Canadian dry pea and lentil stocks ended the 2025-26 marketing year at record highs, while flaxseed inventories increased to the heaviest level since 2023 after much larger crops.
Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that dry pea stocks reached 1.182 million tonnes as of July 31, up 141.7% from 489,000 a year earlier. Lentil stocks climbed almost 129% to 1.284 million tonnes from 561,000.
Both were record highs. Lentil stocks surpassed the previous July 31 record of 873,000 tonnes set in 2018, while pea inventories exceeded the previous high of 910,000 from July 2010. Flaxseed stocks also increased from a year earlier and were the heaviest since 2023, reflecting a sharp increase in 2025 production.
Lentil production reached 3.363 million tonnes in 2025, up from 2.431 million tonnes in 2024. Pea production climbed to 3.934 million tonnes from 2.997 million, while flax output increased to 454,000 tonnes from 258,000 tonnes.
The final stocks estimates were also well above Agriculture Canada’s August supply-demand projections of 500,000 tonnes for lentils, 300,000 tonnes for peas and 230,000 tonnes for flax.
On-farm pea stocks jumped 245.8% to 875,000 tonnes, while commercial inventories increased 29.7% to 306,000. The buildup came despite stronger export movement. Dry pea exports rose 22.2% year over year to 2.7 million tonnes as of July 31.
For lentils, on-farm stocks more than doubled to 1.09 million tonnes, while commercial stocks increased 26% to 194,000. Exports also strengthened significantly, rising 32.6% to 2.4 million tonnes.
