Pea Final Maybe Higher, Lentils Lower

VANCOUVER - Oct 15/10 - SNS -- Unofficial yield estimates from Saskatchewan Agriculture suggest this year's field pea and mustard seed harvests may end up bigger than expected, while lentil, canaryseed and chickpea production in Canada could be lower than Statistics Canada's October estimates.

When Statistics Canada surveyed farmers between September 1 and September 9, the lentil harvest was roughly 29% complete, peas 57% complete, mustard seed 22%, and chickpeas 2%, while no canaryseed had been harvested.

Normally, the lentil harvest is almost 80% complete by the time the September crop production survey is finished, while the pea harvest is usually 83% complete, mustard 53%, canaryseed 19%, and the chickpeas harvest 40% complete.

With the question of yields unsettled, more attention than usual is being paid to ongoing reports from Saskatchewan Agriculture about the status of the crop. On the plus, it appears that both the lentil and field pea harvests are now being cleaned up in Saskatchewan -- the primary production area for these crops in Canada.

In its latest weekly crop progress report, the provincial government said recent warm and sunny weather allowed farmers in the province to harvest 23% of all crops, pushing the overall harvest to 83% complete. The lentil harvest started the week at 90% complete, compared to 98% for peas, 91% for mustard, 48% for canaryseed, and 37% for chickpeas. Combining progress for all crops across the province as of October 11 was as follows: Southwest – 86%; Southeast – 87%; West-central – 76%; East-central – 85%; Northeast – 81%; and Northwest – 79%.