Glacier FarmMedia – With the peas harvest in Alberta about a month away, prices have been beginning to slip back according to Kyle Sinclair, chief executive officer for Producer Profit in Lacombe, Alta.
Sinclair said that yellow pea prices in Alberta peaked at about C$13 per bushel earlier this year, with prices for green peas having reached C$15/bu.
“Farmers took advantage of that to a certain degree, as much as they were comfortable with,” he commented, noting that price will drop once harvest is underway.
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Most of that selling will be off the combine and will saturate the Prairie pea market. Sinclair said he firmly believes that once combining has finished those prices will bounce back to an extent, but not to the $13/bu. the yellows had been getting.
“It’s going to depend on how everything is going to fare through this hot, dry stretch we’re in right now,” he said. “You can hear the concern in their voices when you talk to guys.”
As for Statistics Canada’s projection for three million tonnes of peas in 2024/25, Sinclair suggested production very likely won’t go much higher and could slip below the forecast.
“There are enough areas, certainly in Alberta, that have been just limping along on timely rain. There’s not a tremendous amount of subsoil moisture for crops to work with,” he stated.
One thing working in favour for Canadian farmers has been India and its duty-free period for pulse imports. Sinclair said it came just as Canada’s pea exports to China have dropped as the latter has turned to Russia.
“The support will come back to the market,” Sinclair emphasized.
The Canadian Grain Commission reported that 2023/24 pea exports, that cleared licensed facilities through to May, destined for India are more than 831,000 tonnes compared to zero the year before. Those to China were about 796,000 tonnes, down from 977,000 this time last year.
While Sinclair said, “there are some reasons for positivity,” he cautioned that India extended the duty free period through to next spring to Australia.
Prairie Ag Hotwire cited old crop yellow pea prices across Western Canada were C$13 to C$16.50/bu. delivered as of July 15. Prices for green peas were C$10.52 to C$12.25/bu. As for new crop, the yellows were at C$13.06 t0 $14/bu. with the greens at C$10.70 to C$11.50/bu.
