By Commodity News Service Canada
June 29 (CNS Canada) – Canadian farmers reported seeding 4.4 million acres of lentils, according to the Statistics Canada report on field crop areas released today. That’s a decline 24.8 per cent from last year’s record high. Saskatchewan growers especially shied away from the crop. Acreage there fell 25.8 per cent to 3.9 million acres. Saskatchewan is responsible for almost 90 per cent of lentil acreage in Canada.
Canadian farmers also told StatsCan that they seeded 135,000 acres of chickpeas. That compares to 160,000 acres in 2016 for an 18.5 per cent decrease.
Sudden downpours in eastern North Dakota have raised questions about the edible bean crop’s ability to survive standing water. Farmers near Manvel reported about 60 millimetres of rain in a two-hour period that left many fields sodden. Some farmers in the area already reported they expected to lose five per cent of bean crops, although crop advisers stressed it is early in the season and plants may be able to recover.
