Pulses will be heading into a new market year after a strong performance in 2022-23.
That's the diagnosis for Neil Townsend, Senior Market Analyst at FarmLink Marketing Solutions, who spoke to attendees during a webinar put on by Grainfox.
"I think that 2022-23 has been a pretty successful year for the marketing for pulses. We've seen some prices that are ROI attractive and I think the bids that we see with a new crop - you can put it in the ROI calculator on Gainfox and try it out and you'll see that those are probably offering a pretty good investment on return and are profitable."
The crop doesn't come without its risks, as it does have a few factors that could push it down.
"I think it's disease pressure in the northern plains, disease pressures here. I think when the opportunities are relatively good for the marketing of things that are relatively more homogenous or whatever you want to say, like the corn and the soybeans," said Townsend, "In some aspects in Noth Dakota and in Manitoba for sure."
The biggest factor for pulses this year will be the weather coming in as seeding approaches.
"What we do know is that the weather is not great. the weather was probably, in terms of quantity, not as destructive as the potential quality aspect," said Townsend, "In western Canada, I think it's going to be a real big struggle to get extra acres for peas and even for lentils. We saw that also sort of noted in the prospective plantings in the United States, we didn't see a big increase in pulses at all there."