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Specialty Crop News for Feb, 1997

• USDA Buys Lentils and Dry Edible Beans for Food Aid
  KANSAS CITY -- Feb 5/97 -- The USDA's Commodity Office here confirmed the purchase green peas, lentils and beans against the latest PL-480 food aid tender. The only surprirse was that all of the optional quantity of green and yellow peas was covered by green peas.

• UGG Sees Good Pricing Alternatives for Off Grade Green
  WINNIPEG -- Feb 6/97 -- Tightening supplies of Canadian whole green peas is helping narrow the spread between prices for lower and top grade peas, creating attractive priving opportunities for lower grade product, according to UGG Growers' Marketing Services.

• Mustard Seed Area Increase Seen Lowering 1997-88 Prices
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 7/97 -- STAT -- Projected yellow mustard seed acreage increases in western Canada make it easy to predict prices will be much lower during the 1997-98 marketing year than this season.

• Light Demand Leaces Dry Edible Beans Mostly Unchanged
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 7/97 -- STAT -- International dry edible bean markets were mostly unchanged in a week described as quiet, but which left many processors and traders busy.

• Improved Weather, Faltering Demand Pressures Birdseeds
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 7/97 -- STAT -- Improving weather conditions in North and South Dakota combined with slowing demand among birdseed ingredient manufacturers to force millet seed markets to give back most of their recent gains.

• Food Aid Demand Fails to Ignite U.S. Lentils
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 7/97 -- STAT -- U.S. government buying on the latest PL-480 food aid tender in that country proved to be the biggest news of the week.

• Field Peas Chalk Up Mixed Performance
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 7/97 -- STAT -- International field pea markets continued to be in a mixed performance, with instances of bullish activity mirrored by faltering demand and prices for other types of peas.

• Australian Chick Pea Supply-Demand Estimates

• Australian Lupin Supply-Demand Estimates

• Australian Field Pea Supply-Demand Estimates

• Forage Yields Confirmed Low in Alberta
  EDMONTON -- Feb 10/97 -- Preliminary forage seed production estimates for Alberta confirm last year's crops were relatively small, contributing to the current market firmness.

• Dry Bean Crop Damage Confirmed in Brazil
  BRASILIA -- Feb 11/97 -- Damage to this year's dry edible bean crops has been confirmed in the Sao Paulo and Parana regions of the country on account of heavy rains, according to the U.S. agricultural attache here.

• Heavy Winter Rain Points to Bumper Spanish Crops
  MADRID -- Feb 11/97 -- Doubts last year's break in the long drought which devastated agricultural output in Spain in the opening years of this decade was temporary appear to have been dashed by heavy and sustained winter rains.

• Mexican Unions Enter Wholesale Dry Bean Markets
  MEXICO CITY -- Feb 14/97 -- The Mexican Workers Confederation (CTM) sold 125 MT of dry beans to workers in several affiliated unions through its Food Supply Program, the first step in an effort to become more actively involved in the country's bean markets.

• Feec Pea Sales Continue to Lag in France
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 14/97 -- STAT -- Sales of field peas grown in France continue to lag behind last year's pace, judging from statistics covering export and domestic usage levels covering the first five month's of that country's 1996-97 marketing year.

• Brazilian Crop Problems Support Black Bean Market
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 14/97 -- STAT -- Dry edible bean markets in the United States ended the week's trading mixed, but with a slightly firmer tone.

• Canadian Transportation Woes Potential Bearish Market
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 14/97 -- STAT -- Each year's winter weather market normally swirls around events affecting Argentina's and Brazil's soybean and sometimes wheat crops. While true again this year, dry edible bean and Canadian specialty crop markets are more affected than usual by weather events buffeting markets.

• Birdseed Markets Pressured by Slowing Demand
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 14/97 -- STAT -- Birdseed ingredient markets ended the week with prices unchanged to higher, but market tone heading the other direction.

• Lentil Growers Getting Anxious to Move Product
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 14/97 -- STAT -- Generally quiet market conditions left international lentil market values mixed by week's end.

• Australian Field Pea Values Pushed By Grower Holding
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 14/97 -- STAT -- International field pea markets were steady to slightly firmer. Australian values were generally higher on the week as exporters and processors pushed values to levels it was hoped would attract grower selling.

• USDA Tenders for Beans, Green Peas, Lentils
  KANSAS CITY -- Feb 18/97 -- The USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) office here invited offers for 6,040 MT of pulses for shipment against PL-480 food aid commitments in April.

• Pea and Lentil Tenders Total 3,360 MT
  KANSAS CITY -- STAT -- The quantity of peas and lentils covered by USDA PL-480 food aid tender this season now totals 42,190 MT, compared to 41,035 MT last year.

• USDA Seeks Offers on 2,680 MT Beans
  KANSAS CITY -- STAT -- The total quantity of dry edible beans covered by USDA PL-480 food aid tender this season now totals 20,140 MT, compared to 20,605 MT last year.

• USDA Tenders for 6,040 MT Pulses
  KANSAS CITY -- STAT -- The latest USDA PL-480 tenders bring actual and potential purchases of pulses for shipment as food aid during the 1995-96 shipping season to 58,970 MT.

• U.S. Green Pea Supply-Demand Estimates

• U.S. Lentil Supply-Demand Estimates

• Improved Grower Selling Pressures Dry Edible Beans
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 21/97 -- STAT -- North American dry edible bean markets were slightly easier as reflected a nine point decline in the value of the U.S. dry edible bean spot market price index to 760 points.

• Indian Wheat Imports Climb Suggests Food Supply Problems
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 21/97 -- STAT -- There is rising optimism steady demand for pulses from the Indian subcontinent and some Pacific Rim destinations will support values for all types of field peas and possibly chick peas through the balance of the 1996-97 marketing season.

• Birdseed Ingredienbt Markets Plunge Under Selling Pressure
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 21/97 -- STAT -- North American birdseed ingredient markets ended trading one week ago with prices giving the appearance of a strong market, but the attitude of traders was mainly bearish.

• Tightening Mung, Black Mapte Supplies Help Field Peas
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 21/97 -- STAT -- India has always been an important importer of pulses, but the ability of the country's farmers to keep pace with rising demand appears to be under growing pressure. This is made clear when looking at major grains such as wheat and rice, where Indian is looking at switching from being a major exporter to a significant importer in the coming season.

• Green Lentils Presurred, Red Splits Soar
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 21/97 -- STAT -- International lentil markets ended trading mixed with easing green lentil values offset by strength within the red lentil complex.

• Rising Field Pea Values Starting to Ration Demand
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 21/97 -- STAT -- Little new business was reported by field pea traders during a week in which markets continued to worry about transportation limitations within Canada.

• Australian Crop Production Estimates

• Australian Seeded Area Estimates

• Australian Lupin Supply-Demand Estimates

• Australian Pulse Ouput Slips 7.2% to 2.2 million MT
  DONALD -- Feb 25/97 -- STAT -- Upward adjustments in the final yield estimates combined with a slight increase in areas sown to pulses in Australia last fall to push the size of the estimated crop up from the December figures released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

• Australian Field Pea Supply-Demand Estimates

• Australian Chick Pea Supply-Demand Estimates

• Canadian Canaryseed Supply-Demand Estimates

• Canadian Lentil Supply-Demand Estimates

• Canadian Field Pea Supply-Demand Estimates

• Canadian Mustard Seed Supply-Demand Estimates

• Herb and Spice Production Reuqires More Research by
  EDMONTON -- Feb 28/97 -- Alberta Agriculture -- Growing herbs and spices is a whole different ball game from growing wheat, barley or canola. There is usually no established market and no marketing infrastructure. Therefore, they require more planning, research and commitment than traditional crops.

• International Specialty Crop Review and 1997 Forecast

• Specialty Crop Seeded Area Growth Seen for 1997
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 28/97 -- STAT -- Some high profile shifts in the mix of specialty crops expected to be grown in 1997 is drawing attention away from the most significant part of the outlook for this sector of the agricultural economy. Seeded area andpossibly production should rise in the coming months.

• Export Enquiry Adds Life to U.S. Bean Markets
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 28/97 -- STAT -- Improving export demand added support to North American dry edible bean markets in a week which saw the U.S. spot market price index manage a four point improvement over the previous week.

• Demand Rising As Companies Try to Scare Growers
  VANCOUVER -- Feb 28/97 -- STAT -- North American birdseed ingredient markets remained under pressure during the week.

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