MarketsFarm — As planting of lentils on the Canadian Prairies has pretty much wrapped up for 2022, prices have been holding firm, according to Colin Young of Midwest Grain Ltd. at Moose Jaw.
“In pulses right now, this is the naturally quiet time of the year. We’re ramping old-crop into new-crop,” Young said.
“Prices are quite high, so buyers are just making a choice to say ‘lentils are the most plentiful in the fall.’ That’s when they reset the clock on freshness and quality.”
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What happens now to lentils, as well as their prices, largely depends on the weather and growing conditions across Western Canada over the coming months, he said.
“We have some pretty drastic differences in conditions,” he said, pointing to how southern Alberta and western Saskatchewan are dry compared to the wet eastern Prairies.
“If it turns hot and dry for the remainder of the summer, we can see yields similar to last year. The quality is set by the weather conditions we face in the last half of July and in August,” he said.
With wet conditions, such as those on the eastern Prairies, issues with diseases such as root rot can arise, along with fungus.
“The west has the exact opposite problem — without significant rain quickly, they’re going to have short crops with underdeveloped, low pod counts,” Young said, noting if crops are too short they could quite difficult to harvest.
All lentil prices remained steady over the last week regardless of variety and size, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. Old-crop Lairds ranged from 34 to 58 cents/lb. delivered, with new-crop at 34-50 cents/lb. Estons sat at 34-51 cents/lb. for old-crop with new-crop around 42.
Old-crop Richleas were firm at 36 to 53 cents/lb. delivered, with new crop at 34-43. Crimsons were unchanged at 34-43 cents/lb. for old-crop and new-crop came in at 29-41.
— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
