Feed Peas Continue Advancing

VANCOUVER - Sep 21/07 - SNS -- Feed pea markets continued to be supported by a bullish undertone to the international field pea complex.

Trading levels in Europe continued to advance as those feed manufacturers still interested in using the product need to raise bid levels to secure product. The problem is worsened by tight stocks and food pea competition in both France and the United Kingdom.

North American feed pea markets are once again mainly an affair between feed mills, local livestock producers, and individual field pea growers. However, with a strong export shipping program underway from western Canada and end users willing to accept heavily bleached peas for food markets, volumes available to the sector appear to be down.

A similar situation is playing out in the United States, where government buying for food aid programs and strong commercial demand is restricting access to feed peas. This is stalling market development efforts and raises doubts about the ongoing viability of the market -- other than as residual outlet when production rises above the needs of food consumption markets.

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