May 8, 2025
Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Venture discusses changing acres for peas and lentils, promising conditions for farmers, and what long-term tariffs could mean for trade.
Yellow peas, once a Canadian export staple to China and India, face renewed uncertainty amid shifting trade dynamics and declining acreage.
I think StatsCan are wrong on their estimates for this year's dry pea acreage. They projected a 9.5% increase year on year (YoY), but when you talk to industry it is anywhere between 10-15% lower YoY. There are a number of reasons for this – firstly there are the China tariffs. We just heard today that pea exports in March were 85 KMT, of which around 20 KMT were to China, which is an appallingly small number – the previous month was 111 KMT.
India isn't interested in buying yellow peas at the moment and Canadian farmers know that. We also developed root rot over the last few years, both in lentils and peas, and the only way to combat that is a very long rotation – you need at least five years for the fungus to die in the soil. This is partly why I think farmers might have wanted to rest the pea acres.
If I'm correct on the decrease, we will have about 2.4-2.45 MMT of dry peas next year, depending on yields.
READ THE FULL ARTICLEYou can’t be at odds with the two biggest economies in the world, says Marlene, who believes Canada must reassess its tariff strategy.
Disclaimer: The opinions or views expressed in this publication are those of the authors or quoted persons. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Global Pulse Confederation or its members.
