Pulse crop pundits used words like horrid, devastating and disturbing to describe the inclusion of peas, lentils and chickpeas in American subsidy programs introduced in 2002.
One Canadian trader said, “the pulse party could be over,” referring to the anticipated massive growth in U.S. pulse acreage.
But two years into the new farm bill era, that doomsday scenario hasn’t materialized.
A 2003 crop summary released by the United States Department of Agriculture last week shows American farmers are taking a slow and methodical approach to growing their pulse industry. They are still a long way from posing a serious threat to Canadian producers.
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The report had numbers for only two of the three pulses eligible for loan deficiency payments. Seeded acreage of peas and lentils grew by less than 10 percent this year, up 20,000 acres for lentils and 27,000 acres for peas.
“So did the farm bill have an effect? Absolutely not,” said Paul Thomas, executive director of the North Dakota Dry Pea and Lentil Association.
He said Canadians have to realize that while the floor prices for U.S. pulses seem lucrative, the crops have to compete with other subsidized alternatives like wheat and corn.
The inclusion of pulses in the farm program simply puts peas and lentils on equal footing with those other crops so farmers can make their seeding decisions based on factors like rotational benefits instead of subsidies.
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers executive director Garth Patterson said while the growth in pulse acreage is smaller than anticipated, it still has an impact.
“Whether it is happening quickly or slowly, it is happening,” he said.
Earlier this year the USDA issued a report estimating that pulse producers would receive $157 million in loan deficiency payments by the time the farm bill expired. It said peas should reach 800,000 acres by 2007 and lentils half that amount.
Prior to implementation of the 2002 farm bill, which runs through 2007, American farmers grew a little more than 200,000 acres of each crop. Lentil acreage has barely budged from that level but the pea number is now 350,000 acres.
Thomas said the USDA’s pea estimate is realistic but he doubts lentil acreage will double as forecast in the report.
“It just blows my mind, honestly, that we don’t see a greater increase in lentils.”
He also believes the $157 million estimate is optimistic despite a lentil payout in the first year of the program and “a nice pea payment” to farmers this year.
“We’ll have an extremely tough time hitting that,” said Thomas.
U.S. pulse growers will see a slight decrease in support levels starting next year. Those reductions will remain for the remainder of the farm bill.
