This monitoring period covers the harvest of summer crops in Canada, including corn and soybeans, as well as the seeding and early growth of winter wheat.

With the exception of winter wheat, there were few crops in the field. The situation of summer crops was reported in the last bulletin. For winter crops, agro-climatic conditions were near average. Compared to the 15-year average, rainfall was 1% lower, while radiation was slightly higher (RADPAR +2%). The average temperature for this period was -3.7°C. It was slightly above the 15YA (TEMP +0.2°C). All agroclimatic conditions resulted in a slight increase in potential biomass (BIOMSS +6%). Most winter wheat is grown in southeastern Ontario, near Toronto and Ottawa. According to the temperature profile, starting in November, temperatures dropped below 0°C and winter wheat went dormant. In December and January, the temperature dropped sharply to about -15°C. Precipitation during winter wheat planting was near average, which allowed the crop to germinate and grow well before dormancy. Conditions for winter wheat have been near average so far, but winter crop yields will depend largely on agroclimatic conditions in the next monitoring period.

Regional analysis

The Prairies (the area identified as 30 in the NDVI clustering map) and the St. Lawrence Basin (26, covering Ontario and Quebec) are the main agricultural areas.

The Prairies is the main crop production area in Canada. It grows mainly summer crops, due to the rather dry and extreme cold conditions during winter. In this reporting period, the rainfall (RAIN +8%), radiation (RADPAR +5%) and temperature (TEMP +0.1°C) were above average, leading to a slightly increased potential production (BIOMSS +4%).

The Saint Lawrence basin is the main winter wheat production region. Most winter wheat is usually grown in Ontario.  The temperature (TEMP +0.4°C) and radiation (RADPAR +2%) were above average, while rainfall (RAIN -9%) was below average, leading to a slightly increased potential production (BIOMSS +7%). According to the NDVI development graph,the crop conditions were slightly below average. Considering that cropped arable land fraction was also slightly below average (CLAF -1%), the situation of crops is assessed as slightly below average. 

Figure 3.12 Canada’s crop condition October 2021 - January 2022

(a). Phenology of major crops

(b) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI  (c) Maximum VCI

(d) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA   (e) NDVI profiles

(f) Rainfall time series                                      (g) Temperature time series 

(h) Rainfall time series (Canadian Prairies region (left) and Saint Lawrence basin region (right))

(i) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI (Canadian Prairies region (left) and Saint Lawrence basin region (right))

Table 3.15. Canada’s agroclimatic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values and departure from 15YA, Oct 2021-January 2022

Table 3.16. Canada agronomic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values and departure, Oct 2021-January 2022