SASKATOON — Ratings for Montana’s lentils are grim, but a major processor thinks the crop will turn out far better than it appears on paper.
Nearly half of the state’s crop was rated poor or very poor as of July 27.
American farmers seeded 2.72 million acres of lentils this year, an 18 per cent increase over last year.
Three-quarters of those lentils were planted in Montana, which has been experiencing severe drought.
There was an expectation that crop yields would be poor, but early harvest results show they are better than anticipated, said Jeff Van Pevenage, president of Columbia Grain International.
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He thinks there could be some quality problems with the middle part of the crop due to heavy rain that finally arrived during the last 10 days of July.
However, the same rain likely resulted in good yields in the later-harvested crop.
Montana mainly grows green lentils, with about 70 per cent of the crop being medium-sized and the remainder split between large and small.
Van Pevenage wouldn’t be surprised if the state posted an average yield of 22 to 23 bushels per acre, which would be far better than earlier estimates of about 15 bu.
The crop went in the ground early this year and avoided some of the heat damage.
“That’s maybe part of what made a difference,” he said.
The crop got enough moisture at the end to finish nicely.
Liz Edmundson, executive director of the Montana Pulse Crop Committee, said growers are in the midst of harvest.
“I agree with Jeff, I don’t think it’s that bleak,” she said.
“I just haven’t heard that producers are really struggling.”
She is anticipating average yields this year.
Van Pevenage expects there to be some quality issues due to the late-July rain, but given the size of the crop, that shouldn’t be a major problem.
He thinks total U.S. production could be 25 per cent higher than last year.
Demand has been slow. India is the only big player right now, but at cheap prices.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is usually a good outlet for poor quality lentils, buying about 30,000 tonnes a year of No. 3 lentils.
However, President Donald Trump’s administration has defunded the organization, and it has not been tendering for lentils this year, so those poor-quality lentils will have to go to India or the pet food market.
Edmundson said prices in the northern Plains region of Montana are around US$23 per hundredweight, down from $30 to $32 last year.
Van Pevenage said growers are in for a bit of a rude awakening. He thinks prices will drop to the $15 to $20 range, which is a far cry from the $40 to $45 they have seen at times in the past few years.
A lot of buyers are sitting on product from last year and are in no hurry to secure more supplies. As well, food aid demand is severely diminished and a big crop is on the way.
