Record Special Crops Stocks in Canada

OTTAWA - Sep 13/05 - SNS -- Canada finished the 2004-05 marketing year with a record supply of field peas, lentils, canary and mustard seed on hand, according to the July 31 stocks in all positions estimates from Statistics Canada.

Based on telephone and internet interviews of 17,600 farmers across the country between July 20 and August 5 and a survey of handlers and agents of special crops, the federal agency said the season ended with 595,000 metric tons (MT) of field peas on hand, up from 205,000 MT last year and 310,000 MT at the close of the 2003-04 marketing year.

Lentil ending stocks jumped from 38,000 MT last year to 245,000 MT; while mustard seed stocks jumped from 92,000 to 194,000 MT; and canaryseed from 67,000 to 170,000 MT. The only specialty crop covered by Statistics Canada showing a decline was sunflower, where residual supplies dropped from 25,000 to 18,000 MT.

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