From Statistics Canada

As of March 31, 2018, total stocks of Canadian wheat and barley were lower compared with the same date in 2017. Meanwhile, total stocks of canola, corn, soybeans, oats, dry peas and lentils were up. Many of the increases were a result of increased on-farm stocks.

Corn for grain

Corn for grain stocks were up 4.3% from the same date a year earlier to 8.7 million tonnes. Commercial stocks were down 25.5% to 2.1 million tonnes, while farm stocks were up 19.1% to 6.7 million tonnes. Farm stocks in Ontario increased 34.1% to 3.7 million tonnes.

Soybeans

Soybean stocks increased 38.7% to 2.6 million tonnes as of March 31, likely the result of record production of 7.7 million tonnes in 2017. On-farm stocks were up 58.1% to 1.5 million tonnes. Manitoba was the main driver, as on-farm stocks in the province increased by 150.0% to 700 000 tonnes. Meanwhile, commercial stocks increased by 18.3% to 1.1 million tonnes.

Barley and oats

Total barley stocks decreased 25.5% to 3.4 million tonnes as of March 31, after a 10.7% production decline in 2017. Farm stocks decreased 28.3% compared with the same day a year earlier to 3.0 million tonnes. However, commercial stock levels increased 12.0% to 355 000 tonnes.

Total oat stocks increased 19.8% to 2.1 million tonnes compared with March 31, 2017. Both on-farm stocks (+21.8%) and commercial stocks (+4.9%) contributed to the overall increase. These stock levels follow a 15.3% rise in oat production in 2017 over 2016.

Wheat

Total wheat stocks were at 16.4 million tonnes as of March 31, 2018, down 3.9% from the same day a year earlier. This decrease was the result of lower stock levels being held on farms, down 1.3% to 12.5 million tonnes, as well as an 11.3% decrease in commercial stocks to 3.9 million tonnes. Farm stock levels in Saskatchewan decreased by 5.6% to 5.7 million tonnes, while farm stocks in Alberta increased 4.9% to 4.4 million tonnes.

Canola

As of March 31, total canola stocks were up 14.4% from the same day a year earlier to 9.1 million tonnes. This increase resulted from an 18.2% rise in on-farm stocks to 7.5 million tonnes. On-farm stocks in Saskatchewan were up 15.3% to 3.8 million tonnes, while they increased 22.7% in Alberta to 2.7 million tonnes. Commercial stocks, however, edged down 0.8% to 1.6 million tonnes.

Dry peas and lentils

Total stocks for lentils increased 34.8% from March 31, 2017, to 1.5 million tonnes, mainly driven by on-farm stock levels that rose 41.1% to 1.4 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, stocks of dry peas rose 12.7% to 1.9 million tonnes. These increases continue a pattern seen for the commodities in the last stock report taken on December 31, 2017. The current stock increases as of March 31, 2018, could be attributable to a rise in import tariffs introduced by India. Exports of both dry peas and lentils on March 31, 2018, are down substantially from the same date last year, with dry pea exports declining 40.7% to 1.8 million tonnes, and lentil exports down 49.6% to 1.0 million tonnes.