Feed Peas Markets Lagging Food

VANCOUVER - Sep 29/06 - SNS -- Feed pea markets ended the week little changed to easier in both Europe and North America, with escalating prices for food quality peas in North America having a negative impact on grower interest in participating in that market.

The quality of this year's harvest was much better than last year and the proportion of offgrade peas is down, causing many growers to emphasize sales to food grade markets over feed.

In a recent review of the market, Louis Dreyfus Canada asserted that "feed pea markets are basically depressed, with valid concerns being raised about dropping domestic consumption.

"Following the release of Stats Can's 2005-06 ending stocks report, it became apparent that the residual component of demand, of which livestock feeding is a part, is continuing to decline. This runs contrary to the trend of a couple years ago, which saw increased inclusion of peas in domestic livestock rations as a cheap protein ingredient. In the midst of the soybean rally of 2004 even caused 'feed' peas to move to a premium over edibles.

"Since that time however consumption has dropped substantially. Two years of heavy feed-grade cereal crops being harvested weighed on prices, as did the growing size of, and poor-quality Manitoba soybean crop. This growth lends itself especially well to on-farm feeding of roasted soybeans, in particular by colonies who previously had represented a substantial portion of the growth in feed pea use in livestock rations," Louis Dreyfus Canada said.

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