Production increased in Sweden and Finland but, due to low carry-in stocks, supplies and exports decreased slightly. Oat consumption decreased as lower feed use offset higher food use. Unlike Scandinavia, Australia and the U.S. where oat production has declined in recent years, Canada's oat production has increased. In Western Canada, there has been a shift in the major production regions since the Western Grain Transportation Act was repealed in 1995. Oat production has shifted from regions in southern Alberta to regions in eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which are closer to the Minneapolis market.
Japan is also one of Canada's dependable customers, importing a small volume of oats each year.
Regardless of the measure used, the differential between corn and oat prices on a per bushel basis is considerably higher than on a per tonne basis simply because corn has a much higher bushel weight than oats. Oat prices in the U.S. are affected by EU subsidized oats entering the U.S. market, which in turn may affect prices to Canadian producers. The cash price for oats in Western Canada is determined by the Minneapolis cash market price, adjusted for transportation costs and local supply and demand conditions. The Minneapolis cash price is usually at a slight premium to the CBoT cash price for oats, which tracks CBoT corn prices quite closely. For the exporting countries, the major increase in world oat supplies is largely due to an increase in EU oat production.