MarketsFarm — Variable weather conditions during the 2023 growing season cut into edible bean production in some key North American growing regions, with tighter supplies overall likely to keep prices well supported.
“The whole world is a little short of beans this year,” said Mitch Coulter, executive director of the Northarvest Bean Growers Association in Fargo, N.D..
He noted Mexico was already buying heavily from the U.S. and Canada, while Argentina, normally a competitor with North American beans, had troubles with its crop.
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About 70 per cent of the edible beans grown in Minnesota are irrigated, “and those acres were really good,” Coulter said.
However, on the North Dakota side, “it’s variable… if we got the rains, those beans were average to slightly above average, while in other zones where we missed the rains, we had a poor crop.”
In North Dakota, producers primarily grow pinto and black beans, while kidney and navy beans are more prominent in Minnesota, according to Coulter. He described the pinto and black beans as average in terms of quality, while “the kidney beans were supreme — they really came out nice this year.”
From a marketing standpoint, Coulter expected to see strong prices going forward, with some buyers already contracting for next year’s crop. As a result, he anticipated picking up some more acres for edible beans in 2024.
U.S. farmers grew 1.02 million tonnes of edible beans in 2023-24, which was down from the 1.17 million tonnes grown the previous year due to a combination of smaller yields and reduced acres, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. North Dakota, the largest edible-bean-growing state, saw production down by roughly 22 per cent on the year at 365,500 tonnes.
Canada grew 276,600 tonnes of edible beans in 2023-24, according to Statistics Canada data, which would be down by 36,000 tonnes from the previous year and the smallest production since 2016.
Pinto beans in North Dakota are currently trading around 35 to 36 U.S. cents/lb., according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data, with black beans topping out at 40 and navies at 30. Kidney beans were bid at roughly 41 cents/lb.
In Manitoba, pinto beans delivered to the elevator were trading as high as 52.5 cents/lb., with navy beans at 53-56 cents, black beans at 57.3-60.3 and kidney beans in the 50-54 cents/lb. area.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.
