CNS Canada – After a long and drawn out harvest Manitoba farmers have finally finished bringing in this year’s edible bean crop. While the late harvest raised quality concerns in the province, ample North American supplies should limit the upside price potential.
“The harvest started really early, and we were moving at a pretty good clip…and then the rain started,” said Eric Perry general manager of edible beans with Scoular based out of Overland Park, Kan.
The Manitoba edible bean harvest was 99 per cent complete as of Oct. 22, after sitting at about 80 per cent for the previous month.
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The quality on the later-harvested fields is poor, “but we’ve worked with our customers to make sure we can provide them market access to the world based on the quality we have,” said Perry.
He was confident that most of the product would be able to fit in with the specs buyers are looking for around the world, as producers did a good job with the harvest when the window opened.
“All-in-all, I don’t think there was huge quality degradation,” said Perry.
From a pricing standpoint, “we’re lower on production on both sides of the border, but we still have a ton of beans left in North America,” said Perry. He added that in addition to the large supplies, the U.S. is still dealing with trade issues while the overall agriculture complex remains under pressure.
Sitting at the end of harvest “our market outlook is sideways give or take a little bit,” said Perry adding “I don’t see a lot of impetus for this market, from a world perspective, to go shooting up despite the issues we had at harvest.”
Looking ahead he was more optimistic. “There’s a lot of attention being paid to the edible bean complex today,” said Perry.
While prices may not be that high from a historical perspective, edible beans still pencil out favourably compared to other cropping options which could support acres in 2019. However, acreage ideas will depend on what happens in other crops, with farmers not likely making decisions until the New Year.
