Farmers sticking with lentils this season in spite of pricing free fall

In spite of lentil prices falling to long-term lows at just $600 a tonne, early indications are that farmers will largely stick with the crop for the upcoming season. High prices throughout the 2020s have seen a massive increase in planted area of the pulse, both domestically in Australia, where it has been a star performer in low rainfall zones such as the Mallee, while internationally, producers in Russia and Kazakhstan are planting more of the crop than ever before. Lentil prices have taken a significant hit since the middle of 2025, falling from values close to $1000/t to the $600/t currently on offer, largely on the back of larger crops across the globe, from Canada to India to Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resources and Economic Sciences (ABARES) Australia produced a record 1.9 million tonnes of lentils in 2025-26, with a sharp 38pc rebound in yields after the 2024-25 drought in South Australia, the nation's major production state. Many ...