(Resource News International) — Edible peas prices in Western Canada continue to move lower as export demand remains quiet for the time being.
The poor prices may cause some growers to look at other cropping options this spring, but a merchant for a Saskatchewan-based pulse and special crop firm noted that their other options may not be any better.
“There’s nothing going on in peas whatsoever,” said Cam Laxdal, vice-president of Lakeside Global Grains at the company’s export sales office in Winnipeg.
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Current bids for yellow peas out of Vancouver were as low as $2.15 per bushel, which were the lowest level of the past two years, he said.
He estimated that those West Coast prices would work out to bids of about $4.50 per bushel in the country.
Laxdal said there was very slow movement on both green and yellow peas. “India’s taken only a fraction of the yellow peas they took the year before,” he said, noting that competition from cheaper substitutable products was hampering the demand for Canadian peas and cutting into prices.
India’s own crop will be coming off in March, further limiting the demand from that country.
While Laxdal said India was still expected to make some purchases of Canadian peas going forward, “we still have a long way to go to get rid last year’s peas. So it looks like we’ll have a fairly substantial carryover.”
Poor demand and low prices may dissuade some acres from being planted to peas this spring, but Laxdal said other options were equally poor, so “relatively speaking, peas may not be all that bad compared to some others.”
