It’s not all bad news for pulse markets, latest outlook suggests

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Winter grower meetings are a good place to get in out of the cold, see some neighbours, and find out what’s new in agronomic research. It’s also a good time to get a bead on the markets – what should you be doing with the crop you just harvested and when should some of next year’s crop be priced?

Marlene Boersch, of Mecantile Consulting has been a presenter at the SaskPulse regional meetings this winter, to give farmers just that kind of insight. RealAgriculture’s Dale Leftwich caught up with her at Rosetown, Sask., right after she shared with that audience just what she sees in the market for pulse crops.

Boersch says that although the market itself has not changed much yet, there are some developments in the underlying fundamentals that could mean change is in the offing. “The monsoon was about 9.5 per cent below average, and in some areas it was worse than that. The post-monsoon season has been close to catastrophic, particularly in central India which matters for lentils, for example.” She continues, “we are also looking at about a 10 per cent reduced acreage seeded, for the on-coming crop.”

Though it may seem as if we are awash in production, the numbers tell a different story. “Last year for example, world pea production … not only in Canada, actually went down,” Boersch says.

The same can be said for other grains.  “Even on lentils we’re in the process of reducing our ending stocks. We won’t have as constructive a stocks-to-use ratio but we’re kind of on the right path to keep chipping away at that over-production we had two years ago,” according to Boersch.

The upshot of all this is that there is some movement, there is some change, and Boersch says there should be some good pricing opportunities in the months ahead.

Watch the entire interview with Mercantile Consulting’s Marlene Boersch and RealAgriculture’s Dale Leftwich below.

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