MarketsFarm — Green pea prices in Western Canada have come off their highs in recent weeks, as end users back away from the market.

Top-end green pea bids have lost about a dollar per bushel over the past month, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data.

“A lot of the end users are full now,” said Kris Moric, a broker with Johnston’s Grain in Calgary. He said green peas were trading at around $10 a bushel picked up on the farm, with not much interest from buyers or sellers.

Moric expected there was still a fair amount of green peas in the bins that would move if prices were right, but growers now appear to be waiting for a recovery.

The yellow pea market is relatively quiet, according to Moric, with a large carryover keeping a damper on prices. “At this point, feed markets are stronger than the edible market on yellow peas,” he added.

Looking to the new crop, Moric said there was some talk of switching yellow acres into greens, but the increased risk of growing green peas may limit any shift.

Overall, he said, there was not much new-crop pricing going on yet, with buyers still focused on speculating on the old crop.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

Tagged green pea, Johnston's Grain, new-crop, old-crop, pea acres, pea bids, pea market, pea prices, yellow pea