(Resource News International) — The edible bean harvest in Manitoba has stalled for the time being, but what has come off so far is showing both good yields and good quality. Prices have moved lower in recent weeks due to harvest pressure and better-than-expected crops.
The Manitoba edible bean harvest is about 40 to 50 per cent complete, said Dennis Lange, an agronomist with Parent Seed Farms Ltd. at St. Joseph, Man.
The harvest was a little behind normal, he said, due to recent cool and wet weather, but he thought farmers could get back on the fields quickly given a day or two of dry and windy conditions.
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“If we had a good day of sunshine and wind, growers would be going again,” he commented.
Development of the bean crops had been delayed by the cooler summer weather, but made up a lot of ground in September, Lange said.
“The biggest saving grace for us was that two weeks of 30°C weather we had in September,” said Lange, “that brought a lot of the crop into maturity.” A light frost in late September did only minor damage, he said, as most of the crops were far enough along by then.
Quality of the beans coming in was good overall, he said, although some problems with mould have led to more, smaller beans in some samples and higher dockage.
Pinto beans and black beans generally had a smaller seed size than normal, while light red kidney beans were “the largest we’ve ever seen.”
From a pricing standpoint, prices have come down over the past month, as the crops were harvested and the weather concerns subsided.
Pinto beans are currently priced around 27 cents per pound, which compares to values near 32-33 cents per pound before the harvest, said Lange.
Navy bean values have come down to the 27-28 cents per pound area from 32 cents prior to harvest.
Prices had moved higher in August because of concerns about the lateness of the crop, but as the crop progressed and benefited from the September weather, the weather premiums came out of the market, said Lange.
He didn’t think there would be much price movement in the near term, but expected values could start coming back over the winter months.
