Pulse growers are frustrated that markets don’t seem to be reacting to Western Canada’s drought.
“We’re the leading exporter here,” said Garth Patterson, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Association.
“There’s got to be an impact on prices coming and I haven’t seen anything.”
A big Turkish lentil and chickpea crop and slow trading at this time of year may offset some effects of Canada’s drought, but Patterson also believes the country’s top special crops analysts are partly responsible for the lackluster response.
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He said their pulse production estimates are 25 to 30 percent higher than they should be.
Stat Publishing editor Brian Clancey said his job is to reflect reality, not the mood of the pulse industry.
“People want me to press the panic button right now and they think I’m doing the industry a disservice by not doing that.”
But Clancey said it’s not always in the growers’ interest to hype up a drought problem prior to harvest. If markets get going after harvest, prices are often higher and those highs last longer.
“As soon as you get physical shortages developing that didn’t choke off sales, you usually get way higher price escalation – I guarantee that.”
Clancey has reduced his yield estimates for chickpeas, lentils and peas by 10.9 percent, 9.6 percent and 8.4 percent respectively from their five-year averages. He will be revisiting those numbers in the near future.
But he feels the crop could still rebound with timely rain.
“I think it’s premature to move on it right now and I think it’s irrelevant anyway because the bulk of our buyers aren’t doing any buying.”
Patterson advises growers to watch the markets carefully and understand that Canada’s crop could significantly affect world prices.
“Don’t sell it all at once because we could see a price run here if the drought continues.”
Clancey agreed.
“If you think you’ve got a big problem in your field, why are you selling what’s in your bins?”
