Saskatchewan growers ditching pulses for canola after price bust

Just a few years ago, Canadian farmers couldn’t seed more peas and pulses quick enough.  This season is expected to play out differently.

According to the federal Ministry of Agriculture, pea plantings are expected to decline by 15 per cent, while pulse crops are expected to see a drop of 27 per cent.

“In general, pulse crops have become an oversupply,” Kevin Hursh, an agricultural consultant based in Saskatoon, said. “The acreage drop could be a million acres in peas and a million acres in lentils but until it goes in the ground, nobody is sure what decisions producers are going to make.”

Currently, the price of yellow peas sits at $6.75 per bushel, while the price of red lentils are hovering around 18 cents per pound. The hope for farmers is for an $8 per bushel price for peas, and red lentil prices in the mid to high twenty cent range.

The price drop follows significant growth in peas and pulses in 2015 and 2016.

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“In 2015 we expanded lentil area by 25 per cent, in 2016 Saskatchewan farmers increased by another 40 per cent,” Carl Potts, executive director of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, said. “So we’re seeing acreage coming down off of those highs but still at strong levels compared to five and 10  year averages overall.”

The bust, paired with recent tariffs on pulses set by India have some farmers scrambling; many are swapping crops and are jumping to wheat and canola.

“I would expect to see durum up, I would expect to see wheat up,” Hursh said. “Some of it may to go canola, especially with this recent precipitation.”

In fact, analysts believe it could be a record growing season in canola country, thanks to the recent heavy snowfall across Saskatchewan.

“Many areas in the south were worried about low moisture levels,” Hursh said. “With canola being a high input crop and a shallow seeded crop, some producers were hesitant to make that investment in canola.”

But it’s not all doom and gloom for pulse producers in Saskatchewan. Multiple crops are expected to do well this year, despite the bust in peas and lentils.

“We’re expecting a significant increase in chickpea production because chickpea prices are high and demand is good,” Potts said. “We (also) had a tripling of soy bean acres last year.”

Overall, Potts and the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers are cautiously optimistic heading into this growing season.

“Obviously impact on our largest market is significant and significant now, but we think we’ll move through that and continue to build demand and production here in Saskatchewan.”