Canada Markets

Pea prices are firming on the Prairies amid strong demand, as seen on the attached chart. Data supplied by Saskatchewan Agriculture and Statpub indicate that yellow peas are bid at $6.73 per bushel delivered to Saskatchewan plants, the highest level seen since the week of Nov. 6, 2013. Greens were reported to average $9.46/bu delivered to Saskatchewan plants, almost a full retracement to levels seen in June/July of this summer.

Movement continues favorable, with producer deliveries into the licensed system up 36% from year-ago volumes at 1.308 million metric tonnes. Exports were reported at 1.062 mmt, 49.5% higher than year-ago levels. This activity is well ahead of the cumulative pace needed to achieve the 2.8 mmt export target as set by AAFC, which will leave stocks extremely tight at the end of the crop year given current production estimates. There has been a tendency for Statistics Canada to slightly understate pea production in the July report as compared to the November report over the past five years, which suggests that supplies may be higher than expected.

Monday's U.S. Crop Production report indicated that 935,000 acres of dry peas were planted in that country in 2014, while harvested acres were reported at 896,500 acres. Harvested acres are 12.5% above year-ago levels, while both planted and harvested acres reached record levels in 2014. Yields were slightly below year-ago levels, while total dry pea production is estimated at 756,410 mt, which is 6.8% above year-ago levels and the highest production seen since 2009.

The same report painted an entirely different picture for the U.S. lentil crop. The report indicates that 280,000 areas of lentils were planted in 2014, down 22.7% from year-ago levels. Harvested acres totaled 265,000 acres, the smallest harvested acreage since 2008. Yields were also below year-ago levels, while total production is estimated to have fallen 35% to 147,690 mt, which would be the smallest crop seen since 2008.

Cliff Jamieson can be reached at cliff.jamieson@dtn.com

Follow Cliff Jamieson on Twitter @CliffJamieson

(ES)

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