Canadian March 31 stocks of peas and lentils were both up from the year-ago level, while stockpiles of other pulse and specials crops were mixed.
A Statistics Canada grain stocks report Thursday pegged total national lentil stocks as of the end of March at 1.048 million tonnes, up 30.3% from 804,000 on March 31, 2024. If accurate, that would be the heaviest March 31 lentil stocks since 2021 at 1.461 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, pea stocks were estimated at 1.356 million tonnes, an increase of nearly 42% from last year’s 955,000 although still down from the March 2023 stocks of 1.473 million.
At 848,000 tonnes, March 31 on-farm lentil stocks were up 38.7% from last year, while on-farm pea stocks increased 30.4% to 947,000 tonnes. March 31 lentil stocks in commercial hands increased to 201,000 tonnes from 193,000 last year, while pea commercial stocks jumped to 409,000 tonnes from 229,000.
Total stocks of canary seed as of March 31 were estimated at 137,000 tonnes, up 57.4% from last year and the highest for the date since 2016 at 155,000.
Chickpea stocks as of March 31 surged 88.4% from last year to 179,000 tonnes, the highest since March 2022 at 280,000. Mustard stocks were heavier as well, climbing 49.6% from a year ago to 199,000 tonnes, the highest since March 31, 2006, at 246,000.
March 31 flax stocks declined from last year, falling 21.6% to 253,000 tonnes, the lowest since March 31, 2022, at 184,000. Sunflower stocks dropped 30,000 tonnes or 15% to 169,000 tonnes, the tightest since March 2022 at 139,000.
