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Pulse weekly outlook: recent rains could stabilize crops 

Prices for pulses across Western Canada have been steady

Reading Time: 2 minutes Marketsfarm – Despite the rain the Canadian Prairies received since July 17, MarketsFarm Pro analyst Mike Jubinville pointed out that the major pulse crop areas got very little.  While any precipitation has been beneficial to this year’s crops struggling with dry conditions, Jubinville said, it won’t help that much.  “In terms of advancing pea and […] Read more

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Peas heading in different directions

Export demand seen down for yellows

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Prices for green and yellow peas have been starting to move further apart, according to Levon Sargsyan, grain broker with Johnston’s Grain at Welwyn, Sask. Sargsyan pointed out that prices for yellow peas have been slipping back recently. “Export demand has dropped overseas, so that’s been pushing the yellow pea prices down. The […] Read more


(Screengrab from Merit Functional Foods video via YouTube)

Bidding open for Merit Foods for two more weeks

Stakeholder Burcon plans to put up 'compelling bid'

Reading Time: 3 minutes The fate of Winnipeg pea- and canola-based protein processor Merit Functional Foods won’t be confirmed until the end of April at the earliest. Merit, whose major shareholders include Vancouver plant-based protein firm Burcon NutraScience, U.S. agrifood firm Bunge and former executives of Hemp Oil Canada, was placed into receivership March 1. According to the first […] Read more

Yellow peas. (Victoria Popova/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba growers not worried about Merit situation

Pea, canola protein processor in receivership

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — After Manitoba-based plant protein processor Merit Functional Foods went into receivership last Wednesday, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) executive director Daryl Domitruk said it is not a microcosm of the province’s pulse industry. Domitruk said MPSG learned about Merit’s financial situation through the media. He also added that some Manitoba pea growers […] Read more


(Screengrab from Merit Functional Foods video via YouTube)

Merit Foods stakeholder looking to buy company

Burcon 'actively engaged' with company's receiver

Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the joint-venture owners of Winnipeg pea and canola protein processor Merit Functional Foods says it’s in talks to buy full control of the cash-strapped company. Two days after Merit entered a court-ordered receivership, Vancouver-based Burcon NutraScience announced Friday it “intends to submit a formal proposal to acquire the business.” Burcon said Merit’s receivership […] Read more

(Screengrab from Merit Functional Foods video via YouTube)

Plant protein processor Merit Foods in receivership

Company owes $95 million to EDC, FCC

Reading Time: 3 minutes The company behind a new Prairie processing plant extracting plant-based proteins from peas and canola has landed in receivership, in the high eight figures’ debt to its secured lenders. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Wednesday announced it’s the receiver for both Merit Functional Foods Corp. and the numbered company that owns Merit’s processing plant and property in […] Read more



Yellow peas. (Victoria Popova/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: New Year’s pressure drags on North Dakota peas

Pea prices relatively higher north of border

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Pea prices in North Dakota have been feeling pressure from the New Year, according to Landon Lechler of Beach Co-operative at Beach, N.D., about 360 km south of Weyburn, Sask. Besides the turning of the calendar New Year, Lechler said the upcoming Chinese New Year has slowed export demand for yellow and green […] Read more


(4loops/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Pea prices hold steady in weak market

Values expected to soften in new year

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Prices for green and yellow peas in Western Canada have remained quite steady over the last week, largely due to the lack of demand, according to Darwin Hamilton of Kalshea Commodities in Winnipeg. “North American peas are more expensive than the peas coming out of Eastern Europe. A lot of that product is […] Read more

Yellow peas. (Victoria Popova/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Yellow peas under pressure from large volumes

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Large volumes of yellow peas being delivered into commercial hands have put some pressure on values, although prices remain reasonably solid. Green and maple pea bids are stronger, but movement is more limited in those markets. End users were active buyers of yellow peas in recent months, but many are now filled up […] Read more