Pulse Weekly: Edible bean prices firming up

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – High-delivered prices for edible beans in Manitoba have changed in a positive way over the past month.

Those for the navy, pinto, cranberry, light red kidney, Great Northern and small red bean varieties gained as much as one cent per pound as of Jan. 13, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. However, black beans moved up 3.8 cents/lb. at 61.8, while dark red kidney beans rose 12.5 cents/lb. at 76.3. High-delivered prices for cranberry and both kidney bean varieties were at 52-week highs.

An edible bean buyer in southern Manitoba said the weakened Canadian dollar has given some strength to prices, adding that prices for pinto beans have “stabilized.”

“They were 40 (cents/lb.) at (harvest) and are at 43 or 44 as of this week,” the buyer said. In addition, there will be slight carryover of pinto and black beans going into the 2025-26 marketing year, while other bean varieties will see tighter ending stocks.

However, prices would’ve been higher if the threat of tariffs on Canadian imports being made by United States president-elect Donald Trump hadn’t cooled the market.

“Guys wanting to make bigger deals are a little nervous,” he said.

The buyer said it is almost impossible to determine where edible bean prices will go in the coming weeks.

“There’s probably (tariff) protection built in,” he said. “Uncertainty breeds protection. I would think maybe for that reason we could see 38 to 40 (cents/lb. for pintos). It might go up once we get to the end of January and February when they’ve consolidated what the tariffs are going to be and then we’ll see more active buying.

“It should be another good year for edible beans compared to corn or canola, which don’t have anywhere near the same net profit.”