Glacier FarmMedia — The pulse specialist for the Manitoba government said despite late planting, frost damage and disease pressure that the province’s pulse crops showed good yields.
Dennis Lange, based out of Altona, reported the complete field pea harvest having yields from 30 to 75 bushels per acre with an average of 55. Meanwhile, the dry bean harvest was 80 per cent complete with yields up to 2,000 pounds per acre, compared to the 1,800-pound average.
However, he added that this year’s bean harvest wasn’t without setbacks.
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“There’s been a little of bit of frost damage, but mostly in the western side of the province (was) where we’ve seen some,” Lange said. “But overall, I think we’re looking at above-average yields (for dry beans) this year.”
He also said some pinto bean fields were reported to have yields at 2,500 lbs. per acre.
In September, Statistics Canada projected 192,300 harvested acres of dry peas and 191,500 acres of edible beans in Manitoba. In 2024-25, 188,300 acres of dry peas and 185,800 acres of edible beans were harvested. Dry pea production is expected to be down 1.2 per cent compared to last year at 258,479 tonnes, while that for edible beans would decline by 15.3 per cent at 154,478 tonnes.
While many field peas and dry beans were seeded later than usual this year, a warm summer and a warmer-than-normal start to fall allowed both crops to make up for lost time. However, heavy rainfall last week across much of Manitoba and a return to normal temperatures has caused some issues for the beans still in the ground.
“This week, with the rain that we had on (Oct. 4 and 5), that’s pretty much put a hold on harvest for a few days here,” Lange said.
The biggest concern this year for dry beans, he added, was the prevalence of white mold. One producer told Lange it was the worst he had seen in 10 years. Lange also said white mold was reported in soybean fields, which was unusual.
“We had a number of growers spraying twice,” he said. “White mold comes to play when there’s a cooler (and wetter growing) season to a degree. When you have dense canopies and you get moisture and a cooler season, you can see white mold develop.
“(Producers) did see some yield loss on the dry beans, but generally, yields were still pretty good.”
Crop quality, despite the disease- and weather-related pressures as well as the 10-day to two-week delay to seeding this year, was still very good for Manitoba pulses, said Lange.
“The soybean (harvest is) definitely later this year. Now, the harvest has pretty much caught up. A later start this year, but that also means good yields are coming off. That’s a good trade-off.”
Prairie Ag Hotwire reported delivered bids for green peas on Oct. 6 ranging from C$8 to C$10.25 per bushel, down C$1.75 from last month. Yellow peas ranged from C$6.25 to C$7.50/bu., down 15 cents. Dry bean prices in Manitoba were from 26 to 54.5 cents per pound, with monthly declines ranging from 2.8 cents for Navy (white) beans to 11.5 cents for black beans.
