Increasing demand draws new growers into pea production in Canada
Fresh Common Pea
Canada
Published Jan 7, 2022
Tridge summary
Manitoba farmers seeded 65,000 acres of field peas in 2017. This year that number more than tripled, as Manitoba growers planted 225,000 acres of peas. Pea acres may climb even higher in 2022 because many growers want to avoid nitrogen-dependent crops like wheat, canola and corn. “They see that fertilizer prices are high. (Peas) don’t need nitrogen.
Original content
They see there is some good pricing,” said Anastasia Kubinec, an agronomist with Roquette Canada, which operates a pea protein plant in Portage la Prairie, Man. The Roquette plant, the largest pea protein facility in the world, officially opened this fall. The plant has rejuvenated pea production in Manitoba. It has the capacity to process 125,000 tonnes of peas annually. “We see this as a transformational event in our history and a boost to the global plant-based food sector,” said Pierre Courduroux, Roquette chief executive officer, in November. More growers may try peas in 2022 to supply Roquette and other buyers, but many farmers could be unfamiliar with the crop. It’s possible they’ve never grown peas before, or the last time was 2002. “With these huge increase in pea acres, we have a lot of pea growers that are not pea growers,” said Kubinec, who shared tips on growing peas during a presentation at the Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference. The virtual event was held Dec. 15-16. ...
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