Pea Intentions Lower; Lentils about Steady

According to Tuesday's Statistics Canada acreage report, Canadian lentil planted area will hold about steady in 2021, but peas are poised to see a relatively sharp decline.

The report pegged intended pea acres for this year at 3.83 million, down almost 10% from 2020 and below pre-report trade guesses that ranged from 3.9 million to 4.5 million. If accurate, it would be the smallest national pea area since 2018 when 3.61 million acres were planted.

Meanwhile, lentil intentions for this year were reported at 4.21 million acres, little changed from the 4.23 million acres planted a year earlier and still above the 2019 level of 3.78 million. Pre-report trade estimates for lentils came in between 4 million and 4.5 million acres.

In the largest production province of Saskatchewan, dry pea area for 2021 is forecast to fall to 2.1 million acres from 2.32 million a year earlier, while Alberta area is expected to dip to 1.41 million acres from 1.65 million. In contrast, Manitoba pea intentions for this year are up to 211,300 acres from last year’s planted area of 175,200 acres.

As for lentils, farmers in Saskatchewan, where almost 90% of Canada's lentils are grown, expect planted area to decrease 1.6% to 3.74 million acres, but that is anticipated to be offset by an increase in area in Alberta (+9% to 460,800 acres).

Acreage estimates for other pulse and special crops were mixed compared to a year earlier.

At 982,300 acres, intended flax area is up 5.5% from 2020 and the highest since just over 1 million acres were planted in 2017. Mustard intentions are up a hefty 39.6% from a year earlier to 358,100 acres, although that remains below the 398,600 and 503,800 acres planted in 2019 and 2018.

In contrast, this year's national dry bean planted area is estimated at 414,000 acres, down 9.4% from the 457,200 acres planted in 2020. However, that is still above the 395,300 acres planted in 2019.

Canaryseed intentions are pegged at 243,600 acres, down from 273,000 in 2020 and the lowest since 210,000 acres were planted in 2013. Chickpea area is seen at 212,200 acres, well down from 297,200 a year earlier and the lowest since 160,000 in 2017. Sunflower planted area is seen tumbling about 25% to just 84,000 acres, the smallest planted since 76,300 acres in 2019.