Canadian farmers are expected to increase barley acreage in 2026 while trimming oat plantings slightly, according to early producer intentions for the upcoming growing season.
Nationwide, barley area is projected to rise 5% to 6.44 million acres, reflecting stronger interest in the crop across much of Western Canada, according to a Statistics Canada acreage report Thursday.
But while barley area is poised to expand, Canadian oat plantings are projected to move in the opposite direction. Producers expect national oat acreage to fall 3.1% to 2.903 million acres in 2026. The reduction may reflect large oat inventories following strong production in 2025, which has weighed on market incentives to expand seeded area, StatsCan said.
In Saskatchewan, farmers intend to expand barley plantings by 7.9% to 2.431 million acres, while Alberta producers are forecast to boost area by 5.2% to 3.478 million acres.
The trend is not uniform across the Prairies, however. In Manitoba, barley acreage is expected to decline slightly, falling 1.6% to 304,400 acres compared with last year.
Oat acreage is expected to decline in both Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada’s two largest oat-producing provinces. Saskatchewan farmers are projected to seed 1.217 million acres, down from 1.285 million acres in 2025, while Alberta plantings are forecast to ease to 808,900 acres from 839,900 acres last year.
