Post Harvest Crop Report

2024 Post Harvest Crop Report – Oat and Pulse Market

From the desk of Mike Gallais, Director of Procurement

We can all be thankful for another bountiful (almost) harvest! It was a bit of a drawn-out affair, but the crop is finally in the bin.

Some might experience this crop as the big fish that got away. We had the best start ever. This was followed by a hot and dry July. The early excessive plant growth and shallow roots needed far more moisture than the one inch of rain on July 5. The quality of the crop was severely impacted.

Oat yields were reduced by at least 30 percent. With limited carry-over and acres not expanding, it is likely that ending stocks will be tight. New crop samples continue to come in with lighter bushel weights. Pricing is likely to remain strong, especially for heavy oats with full kernels.

We have a similar scenario with pulses – a huge crop in early July falling short of farmer expectations. Since harvest, yellow pea prices have increased 15% to the grower. Green peas are slightly higher with prices rising closer to 20%.

Though the green lentil growing area had limited rainfall, and the yields are less than average, quality is excellent. There are some tight seed coats with minor sun bleaching.

Chickpeas are a happy story. The seeded acreage went up and positive climatic conditions resulted in good yields. The only complaint is that the lack of rainfall reduced the size of the chickpeas.

So where are we now? The harvest is wrapped up and the bins are full. The quality of the grain is okay, but lower than anticipated. In addition, farms had higher growing costs than anticipated early on in the season. The value of most crops is less than last spring.

Out in the market purchasing, it feels like growers have a chip on their shoulder. It is hard to purchase oats and pulses. Export pulse buyers will commit to yesterday’s prices, but not today’s. It is a frustrating time to be in the food business. We are left waiting to see what will happen….

On a cheerier note, Avena’s sustainability program ‘Harnessing the power of regen ag partnerships’ has continued to grow. We are implementing regen ag projects across the value chain — cover crops, intercropping, and pollinator strips.

Several customers have committed to supporting growers over multiple years, creating strong, stable partnerships.

Avena is working on reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions in-house and developing a real-time model for scope 3 emissions.

Please reach out and let us know how we may enable you in your sustainability journey.