Canadian Area Drop Surprises Lentils

VANCOUVER - Jun 23/06 - SNS -- International lentil markets were little changed in relatively quiet trading conditions.

Markets were somewhat surprised by the depth of the decrease in large lentil plantings in western Canada, with Statistics reporting seedings of all classes of lentils fell 33% to 1.467 million acres.

Large lentil area fell nearly 900,000 acres to 490,000, while red nearly doubled to 670,000 acres. Seedings of small green and other classes were also down in Canada, falling around 11% for both categories.

Markets are paying attention to the drop in large green area because, while green lentil area is up in the United States, most the increase is in small and medium green lentils. Moderating the impact of the decrease is the fact growing conditions in much of Saskatchewan are currently considered ideal, raising hopes of above average yields.

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