08/28/08 Legumes Part 2

Legumes Part 2. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Legumes are the simple dry fruits or pods that contain seeds or dry grains. The term is derived from the French word "légume' which has a wider meaning and refers to any kind of vegetable. In the northwest that translates into dried peas, lentils and chickpeas and according to Todd Scholz, Director of Information and Research for the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, a good portion is slated for export. SCHOLZ: In the U.S. about 65 to 70% of our crop is export so when you are talking about peas and lentils it's primarily an export crop and goes to places like India, the yellow peas go to China and they make a noodle out of them. In Europe they use peas for feed and they also use it for human consumption. The lentils are a premium crop in Europe. They're used for baking, for soups, all sorts of things. The Middle East is also a prime market for lentils and a portion of the crops go to Africa as part of the food aid programs. Then there is the chickpea. SCHOLZ: Chickpeas of course you see them as Garbanzo Beans on the salad bar. In India they're ground up and they are in all sorts of things. Anything you can imagine. Breads, humus is a chickpea dish, there's falafels, so they use it as a staple. Scholz says acreage of chickpeas has expanded in the U.S. but the export market has stayed fairly level. Most legumes are grown in the northern states with about a third grown in Idaho and Washington. SCHOLZ: We were just like all crops competing with the higher priced commodities and in our case it's spring wheat or wheat so we suffered a decline in acres across the northern tier. There was a shift in the northern plains, they planted peas instead of lentils but our acres were down just a bit. In the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Idaho there's probably 110 to 120-thousand acres of lentils. I think we are closer to 95-thousand. Dried pea acres are around 150-thousand and even though Sholz says the price for dried peas almost tripled there was a decline in acres. This year's production will also be a bit below average. SCHOLZ: It's kind of difficult to say what average is because we've been through a significant increase in acres in the U.S. In the Pacific Northwest it has been pretty flat but in the United States it has been an increase in acres so our production is still in flux. We're looking at probably below average yields per acre and we're expecting quality to be pretty good in spite of the rain That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.