Agriculture Canada has raised its 2025-26 price outlook for lentils from last month, although values are still expected to remain sharply lower compared to the last couple of years.
Updated monthly supply-demand estimates released Friday pegged the expected average lentil price for 2025-26 at $530/tonne ((FOB plant, averages over all types, grades, and markets). That is up $20 from last month’s forecast but down about one-third from the previous year’s $790, and almost half of the 2023-24 average of $1,000.
Large green lentil prices are forecast to have a much smaller premium over red lentil prices when compared to last year, Ag Canada said.
Ag Canada made no change to its lentil supply-demand estimates from September, with projected 2025-26 ending stocks holding at 1.145 million tonnes. That is more than double the 2024-25 ending stocks level of 549,000 and potentially the heaviest on record, blowing away the previous high of 873,000 in 2017-18.
Meanwhile, the price outlook for dry peas has softened from last month, down $20/tonne from September to $280 and further below the 2024-25 average of $405.
During the month of September, Saskatchewan yellow and green pea farm gate prices both fell $45 and $85/tonne, respectively, Ag Canada said. Green dry pea prices are currently at a $140/tonne premium to yellow dry peas compared to last year when green pea prices were at a $208 premium to yellow peas, it added.
At an estimated 1.2 million tonnes, 2025-26 dry pea ending stocks are more than double a year earlier (489,000) and about four times 2023-24 stocks of 299,000. The previous high for dry pea ending stocks was in 2009-10 at 910,000 tonnes.
The 2025-26 supply-demand numbers and price forecasts for all other pulse and special crops were unchanged from September.
