Glacier FarmMedia – A large carryout from last year’s Canadian dry edible bean crop is limiting prices in Manitoba.
In Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s principal field crop estimates released last month, the projected dry bean carryout was 95,000 tonnes, compared to 40,000 the year before.
A grain marketer from southern Manitoba said he has seen pintos, black beans and navy beans have recently declined in price to the mid-30 cent per pound range. Meanwhile, kidney beans are in the low-60s.
Prairie Ag Hotwire reported a monthly drop of more than one cent and a yearly drop of more than 30 cents for navy and black beans at 27.5 and 26.5 cents delivered as of Feb. 10. Kidney beans saw the largest monthly increases at four cents for the dark variety and 7.2 cents for light, but yearly drops were down 22.8 and 9.5 cents, respectively, at 55.3 and 57 cents.
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Solid pricing over the last five years resulted in additional acres for dry beans, said the marketer. However, this also resulted in additional stocks which eventually pressured prices.
“Last season, because the other commodities were less attractive, the edibles were in the 40s. That drew a large crop,” he said. “And then with all the precipitation in North Dakota, Mexico and Manitoba, they had decent crops and overproduction over the last two seasons.”
Nevertheless, demand remains strong for dry edible beans due to their relatively high protein content, but ending stocks will still be large. For 2026-27, AAFC estimated a carryout of 80,000 tonnes.
“Movement is strong, but there will still be a carryover. New crop is not that attractive in the mid-30s. But because edible beans are such a small crop, any weather trouble in North Dakota, Mexico, Michigan and Ontario, prices could spring back up.”
While 205,000 acres of edible beans were seeded in Manitoba last year, said the marketer, he expects between 130,000 to 140,000 acres this spring. AAFC projected 370,658 acres nationwide for 2026-27, down from 425,051 the previous year.
Nevertheless, the marketer said he thinks dry edible bean prices are at their low point and have plenty of upside in the coming months.
“It’s kind of the bottom of the market because we still have beans to move out of the province. I would think if we had a regular crop and there wasn’t any shortage, (these are the numbers) they would trade at,” he added.
Cranberry beans gained 5.8 cents over the past month, but lost 11.5 cents this year at 36 cents delivered. Great Northern beans dipped 0.3 cents over the past month while losing 23.3 cents this year at a price of 28.8 cents. Small red beans are at 47 cents delivered after a monthly increase of 2.3 cents and a yearly decrease of 23.5 cents.
