Putting in lentils?

[Zaphod]

What's the latest on lentils? I know acres are supposed to be way down, but are all the acres going to be reds? Should a guy try to grow some lairds or estons in case there's a shortage? I haven't seen much in the way of new-crop bids, so it's pretty hard to know what to do with the last-minute acres.

[coppertop]

The important thing when these facilities are planned is for the communities that will be affected to ensure that they have a voice at the table when the development is in the planning stage. eg: what roads will be used mainly, what is the company willing to put back into the community. Some communities have worked in co-operation with industry to obtain support for sports facilities, volunteer fire departments etc.

[cowman]

Might ruin the landscape but will create all kinds of opportunities for the people who live there? East central Alberta needs some developement if it intends to keep the population alive and well!
What does an operator make at a gas/oil plant? How about an instrument tech? I would suggest in that $120K plus range?
Therefore you instantly have a group of consumers with real disposable income just waiting to find a way to spend it! Hope the locals can cash in on some of the wealth.

[JD_GREEN]

Get real!! a shortage of green lentils???? Even with the reduction in acres, we will have far too many. Want to make a statement, DONT GROW GREENs...... There is no cinderella lining to greens unless we all collectively do not grow them..

[Zaphod]

Sorry, I should have asked whether there could be a shortage of good quality #1 greens, maybe later next year. Could that happen once the 2005 crop discolours over the next winter?

[food4u]

From what I gather the problem is not with #1,s and good 2's but with lower quality 2's,X3's,and 3's.

[clancey]

Most of the carry over is expected to be off-grade greens.

Canada has very few No 1 grade markets. Those are mainly packagers in Europe, especially Spain. I have always advocated binning on a quality basis and marketing the best qualities slowly on a sample basis to exporters who specialize in Europe and/or the domestic packaging industy.

We have done too good a job of developing off-grade markets. Much of the Latin American demand has been switched to X3 and sample basis No 3, with some No 2s thrown in. The Indian subcontinent is all about price with the result they are not consistent importers. But, they do like reds!

People think farmers tried to trick the market with their seeding intentions and that they will only cut acreage 10% to 15%; while increasing red lentil area 40%. A lot of the year-in year-out lentil growers I know in Saskatchewan are boosting red lentil areas on their farms, but they are also seeding greens just in case the market jumps.

We will soon be in a situation where acreage starts swinging back and forth between redss and greens; while green area continues to swing back and forth between others and larges. We will now have two pendulums in play.