Glacier FarmMedia – The increasing demand for lentils, especially green lentils, is raising prices while Canadian stocks are also tighter than they were a year ago.
MarketsFarm analyst Mike Jubinville said due to reduced production in India and the elimination of tariffs on lentil imports going into the country, Canadian lentils are in greater demand.
“(India) is going to be tighter on supply and green lentils are very much oriented towards that,” he said, adding that prices for pigeon peas, which are often used as a lentil substitute, are currently on the rise.
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“That will be the key element that will drive the lentil market for the remainder of this marketing year and likely the dictating influence, short of Canadian production issues this summer, that will drive prices in the year ahead for new crop so far,” Jubinville added.
As of Feb. 12, high-delivered bids for Laird, Eston and Richlea lentils in the Prairies ranged from 58.5 to 76.5 cents per pound, up four to seven cents per pound from the month before and up 20.5 to 28 cents per pound from last year, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.
“For new crop pricing, if green lentils are at 58, 59 cents (per pound), it’s still a pretty strong price,” he said. “Green lentils could be the most profitable crop growers can get.”
High-delivered bids for Crimson lentils ranged from 30 to 36 cents per pound, up four cents from last year but between 1.5 cents lower to two cents higher from last month.
Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its Dec. 31 grain stocks report on Feb. 8 and showed that lentil stocks in Canada totaled 1.002 million tonnes as of Dec. 31, 2023, compared to 1.441 million on the same day in 2022, a 30.5 per cent decline.
Meanwhile, dry pea stocks declined 15.6 per cent to 1.843 million tonnes and chickpeas lost 56.5 per cent of its total from one year earlier at 81,000 tonnes.
Jubinville said, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor, primary pulse-producing regions on the Prairies, such as southwestern Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta, haven’t seen much improvement from dry soil conditions over the past month.
While rains after seeding are key, lentils and peas typically grow in dry areas. For the former, it may look more attractive for growers.
“For those growers, I suspect we’ll see (lentil) acres increase,” he added.
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
