MarketsFarm — With dry conditions dominating western and southwestern Saskatchewan and wet conditions prominent in the province’s east and northeast, at mid-May it remained early to consider switching pulse crops to something else, according to Carl Potts, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.
Overall, he said, spring planting throughout the province as of May 9 was at 14 per cent complete, nine points behind the five-year average. He noted the dry conditions producers in the western half are contending with.
“I suspect farmers are continuing with the spraying and pre-planting intentions, hoping and praying for some rain to get the crops going,” Potts said.
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In the eastern half of Saskatchewan, he said, pulse crops aren’t as large as in the rest of the province.
If there are farmers beginning to become leery about planting already late, Potts said they could switch to shorter-maturing crops, especially if they planned initially to seed fababeans or chickpeas. Any need to switch should be determined over the next couple of weeks, he added.
Regardless of what conditions farmers in Western Canada are facing, prices for pulses have remained steady for the last week, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.
Lentils range from 28 to 55 cents/lb. delivered, depending on the size and colour. Chickpeas were steady at 32-50.5 cents/lb. and bean varieties stood at 37.5-64.5 cents/lb. Peas as well remained firm at $9.50-$18.50 per bushel.
— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
