MarketsFarm — Green and yellow pea seeding is well underway across the Prairies, causing new-crop prices to slide marginally while spot prices hold firm.
As Dale McManus, a broker with Johnston Grain at Welwyn, Sask., explained, seeded acres and new crop prices have an inverse relationship: as seeded acres rise, new crop prices fall.
Producers finished seeding green and yellow peas in those regions that received more precipitation this spring. Southern Saskatchewan has received slightly more precipitation than northern regions, where seeding is slightly behind schedule.
Expected seeded acres increased marginally in 2019. According to Statistics Canada, just over four million acres will be seeded, up from about 2.6 million in 2018.
“Prices were probably stronger a month ago, and it might continue to slide for green peas,” he said. “It could slide some more on the yellows but I think they’re as low as they can go.”
New-crop prices for green and yellow are in the $5.50-$6.25 per bushel range, while spot prices for green peas are holding between $10 and $12. Yellow pea spot prices are between $6 and $6.50.
McManus expects green and yellow peas to do well this year, as the long-term forecast for the Prairies calls for a hot summer.
“We’ve got some warm weather, so they should be coming along quickly,” he said.
“If it’s as hot as they predict, I would imagine sometime in August we’ll see peas taking off.”
— Marlo Glass writes for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.
