Canada Markets

Weekly Saskatchewan Agriculture data released as of Feb. 7 shows large green lentils delivered to Saskatchewan facilities at $72.17/cwt delivered, up $0.67 over the previous week. This is the highest weekly price seen in this data since May 2016.

Daily cash data from Statpub.com for Feb. 13 shows this price holding steady, while a prairie broker has indicated the old crop may have traded as high as $75 to $76/cwt FOB farm in recent trade.

It is a pleasant change to see some prices moving higher while grain futures are under pressure. It is interesting to note that weekly Saskatchewan Agriculture data shows the large green lentil bid reaching a high for the crop year in the May-through-July period, or the last quarter of the crop year, in four of the past five years. The highest crop year high seen over the past five years is $63.33/cwt in the 2021-22 crop year, while the average high over the five-years is $43.26/cwt.

New crop, or September-through-November delivery, is shown to range from $49/cwt to $ 57/cwt, while again, a prairie broker has reported this at $57/cwt FOB farm with an Act of God clause included. Over the past five years, the highest weekly bid reported in Saskatchewan Agriculture's September delivery window was $62.21 in September 2023 and $62/cwt in September 2021. The five-year average of the highest weekly value for September is $50.07/cwt. It would seem that the current bid may be a good place to start in terms of pre-pricing new-crop production.

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

Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CliffJamieson.

(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.