CNS Canada — The prospects for a successful season for edible beans appear good, despite excess water in parts of southern Manitoba, according to a provincial expert.
“Acreage should be in the 110,000- to 120,000-acre range, very similar to last year,” said Dennis Lange, a pulse crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture at Altona.
Edibles aren’t usually planted in April, which will hopefully give the ground a chance to start drying out, he said.
“They like warm soil so you typically don’t start planting until about mid-May,” he said, adding it can even be as late as June.
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Excess rainfall last year curbed bean development in a few areas, he said.
“The edible beans in the Altona area were lower due to the excess moisture we had,” he said, adding Altona may see acres “drop a bit.”
If moisture does become an issue, he said, black beans and pintos typically handle it better than navy beans.
According to Wednesday’s edition of the Prairie Ag Hotwire, prices for navy beans in Manitoba were 37.5 cents/lb., up 13.5 cents from the same time a year ago. Prices for pinto beans were 37 cents/lb., up five cents from a year ago. Blacks were at 39.5 cents/lb., that’s up 17.5 cents from a year ago.
“As long as the contract prices are good, they’ll put some acres in,” he said.
Yields for all types of edible beans in Manitoba last year were just shy of 1,700 pounds an acre on average.
Statistics Canada releases its official acreage estimates on April 21.
— Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
