MarketsFarm — Although prices for chickpeas have pulled back somewhat over the last month, Colin Young of Midwest Grain at Moose Jaw, Sask. emphasized the market has not turned bad in any manner.
“It’s just the level of expectation we had, given the rise in prices of other commodities. Given that we were out there early in the fall, [they] sort of showed a trajectory that we were going to shatter the ceiling of prices we had before,” he said.
“To have them peel back down to where the demand has been sluggish, you can’t sell them very easily.”
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Over the last 30 days, nine- and 10-millimetre Kabuli chickpeas have dipped two cents per pound in Western Canada, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. That places them at 35-46 cents/lb. delivered.
Seven- and eight-millimetre Kabulis have lost 10.5 cents/lb. over the same time, with prices at 23.5-34.5 cents/lb. delivered.
Young noted that 40 cents/lb. for most chickpeas “is not a failure,” as farmers would like to get that amount.
“I just feel disappointed that it’s not 60,” he joked.
Young said buyers have made conscious decisions to limit their purchases to only what they absolutely need at a given time — but added that the market remains “awesome.
“We are talking about squeezing the top 10 cents/lb. out of a great market.”
— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
