Short Crops Lift DU Peas

VANCOUVER - Aug 24/07 - SNS -- European feed pea markets were lifted sharply higher on news that average field pea yields in France dropped from 4,408 to 4,100 kilograms per hectare.

Seeded area is also down from last year, with the result France is looking at an 869,100 MT field pea harvest, down from 1.08 million MT last year and the previous five-year average of 1.488 million MT.

One consequence of a smaller field pea harvest in France is that domestic inclusion rates in for peas in livestock will be down significantly from last season. This reflects the dual impact of a short crop and strong export demand for feed grade peas.

Feed peas, once a major ingredient, is becoming of marginal interest to European compound feed manufacturers outside Spain. Modern memories are short and the lack of buzz over feed peas will have long term consequences for industry acceptance of the commodity.

And, at international meetings, Europeans will stop being ambassadors for the commodity. As the American Soybean Association and sorghum keeners in the United States learned long ago -- a continuous at conventions and in publications is the key to sustaining interest at times when markets are not your friend.

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