Quality of western Canadian mustard 2016

Weather review

The 2016 growing season for mustard began with a concern about the lack of soil moisture but the early dry spring allowed seeding to begin at the end of April. By the middle of May, nearly 60% of the crop was seeded in Saskatchewan. The crop was developing well in May and June because of timely rains and warmer than average temperatures. In July we had above average precipitation and cooler temperatures giving the promise for above average mustard yields. By the end of July over 90% of the crop was considered either good or excellent in Saskatchewan. Harvesting started in mid-August but rain slowed the harvest so that by the beginning of October just ¾ of the crop was harvested. In the second week of October harvest was stalled because of heavy rains and snow but by mid-November all the crop was off the field. (Saskatchewan Crop Reports and Olds Products 2016 Crop Reports.

Temperature and precipitation patterns for the 2016 western Canadian growing season can be found on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s website.

Production and grade information

As shown in Table 1, mustard seed production increased dramatically by approximately 90% from 2015 to 233.9 thousand metric tonnes. The increase was a result of more hectares seeded along with an increase in yield. Yield was approximately 1160 kilograms per hectare (Statistics Canada), which is higher than last year’s yield of 930 kilograms per hectare and the 10-year average of 928 kilograms per hectare.

About 55% of mustard production in Saskatchewan was estimated to be yellow, 14% brown and 31% oriental according to Saskatchewan’s 2016 Specialty Crop Report (PDF, 5.57 MB). Saskatchewan accounted for 74% of western Canada’s total seeded area and nearly 69% of mustard production while Alberta accounted for most of the remaining seeded area and production (Table 1).

This year 52% of samples were graded No. 1, in contrast to 58% in 2015 and 72% for the 10-year average (2006-15). Growing and harvest conditions produced a mustard crop with some visible damage especially in Oriental. In Yellow mustard, however, conspicuous admixtures from weed seeds and foreign material were major factors in lowering the grades of samples received in 2016.