Pulse PipelineVolume X, No 15

September 24, 2010

In This Issue

USPLTA Convention

p. 1

India Trade Team Buys US Pulses

p. 2

Market Newsp. 3

NDSU Pulse Crop Quality Lab

p. 1

USPLTA to Gather in San Diego

Don’t miss out on the fun at the USPLTA convention!

See Pulse Quality Lab page 2

B90 Chickpea Agreements

p. 4

p.m) will have guest speaker Terry Whiteside from The Alliance for Rail Competition, and a brief update on the PNW river closures will be given.

The Grades Committee (3:45 p.m.) will be approving grading standard lines for split peas and lentil color as well as discussing some of the grading issues brought on by disease this year.

Committees for Research, Trade Rules, Government Liaison and Domestic Marketing will also meet throughout the day with important updates of events from the past year.

The final day of the meeting, Friday, Oct. 1, will wrap up the general session, and the USPLTA board will meet late morning before the annual USPLTA golf tournament at Salt Creek.

For complete information, please visit the USPLTA convention website!

The US Pea & Lentil Trade Association (USPLTA) will hold its annual convention next week in San Diego, Calif., at The Catamaran Hotel.

Registration is Wednesday, Sept. 29, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and the official opening session will be held at 2 p.m. Of special note are presentations by the international marketing staff starting at 2:30 p.m. This is a prime opportunity to hear how the pulse markets are faring in our key export regions, and everyone is welcome to attend!

The meeting continues Thursday, Sept. 30. The Transportation Committee (1:15

The pulse industry has been lacking a quality lab and funding was recently approved to establish such a facility in Fargo, ND. This facility will benefit the entire industry. Following is the press release:Dil Thavarajah has joined the pulse crop program as an assistant professor-pulse quality and human nutrition in the North Dakota State University School of Food Systems. Thavarajah will be setting up a lab to study pulse crop quality and nutrition. It will be the first pulse quality and nutrition lab in the country.The pulse crop industry in North Dakota continues to grow as NDSU pulse crop breeders develop new varieties that have high yields, high-quality seed and good agronomic traits.

Pulse Quality Lab Established in ND

USADPLC reserves all rights to information contained in this publication, which cannot be copied or reprinted by any means without express permission. 2C

India Trade Team September 24, 2010

Pulse Quality Lab

An India trade team led by Shakun Dalal, the USADPLC marketing representative based in New Delhi, visited the US pulse-growing region earlier this month. The team arrived in Minot, ND, on Labor Day and included nine Indian importers and a journalist from the Hindu Business Line, a respected business publication. The team kicked off the tour with a stop at the new intermodal facility in Minot and then took a tour of the Premier Pulses International processing plant. Later in the day, they visited the NDSU North Central Extension Research Center where NCREC staff members Mark Halvorsen, Shana Pederson and Jeremy Pederson briefed the team on their research work on cool-season pulses. Kaye Effertz of Northern Pulse Growers Association provided a briefing on pulse production in the North Dakota/Montana area, and Dr. Mehmet Tulbek of NDSU Fargo made a presentation about value-added applications for pulses. Over the following two days, they met with four additional processors and exporters. Joe Bloms, USPLTA President, and Ryan Brooks, NPGA President, joined the team for a reception

India Trade Team Buys US Pulsesto mark the end of the North Dakota segment of the trip. The team then traveled to Great Falls, MT, and met with Columbia Grain and JM Grain staff during a one-day visit before going on to Lewiston, ID.The visitors began the second week of the trade mission with meetings in Lewiston with exporters from the region followed by a tour of the PNW Farmers Co-op processing plant in Genesee, ID. The following day, the t e a m toured the George F. Brocke & Sons plant

in Kendrick, ID, and made a brief stop at USADPLC headquarters before traveling

on to Spokane. They wrapped up their trip with a visit to the Spokane Seed Co. facility

and meetings with Spokane-based exporters.During the course of the trade mission, trade

team members sought out opportunities to speak with US suppliers in one-on-one sessions, and trade team members did report that sales occurred during the tour. If the past is any indication, there will

be additional purchases of US pulses in the future from these team members as buyer-seller relationships develop.

“Approximately one-third of the world’s population suffers from vitamin or mineral malnutrition,” Thavarajah says. “Pulse crops could be a food-based solution to provide the most bioavailable forms of minerals and vitamins to help

those suffering from malnutrition and for millions of those in Western countries who are vegetarians. My research has shown that pulse crops could provide sufficient daily iron, zinc, selenium and other micronutrient requirements by serving 50 grams of pulse crops.”“This is the first pulse quality lab in the nation and has been a priority for the pulse industry for many years,” says Shannon Berndt, executive director of the Northern Pulse Growers Association in Bismarck. “We are very excited about the knowledge and expertise that Dr. Thavarajah brings to the position and look forward to working with her. Our industry appreciates the tremendous support we have received from NDSU, State Board of Agriculture Research and Education and the North Dakota Legislature.”For producers, pulse crops can cut costs by cutting input costs through nitrogen fixation, providing a break in disease and weed cycles, and providing a yield bump in subsequently planted crops.“In addition, pulses may provide solutions to some of today’s health problems, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes,” Berndt says. “Also, the food industry has shown a tremendous amount of interest in utilizing pulses as ingredients.”Thavarajah earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. ~ www.ag.ndsu.edu/news

Market News

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September 24, 2010

• Market prices con-tained in this newsletter may or may not reflect actual market conditions at the time of sale. • U.S. prices are gathered from USDA “Bean Market News” which uses aver-ages based on U.S. #1 pro-duction the date surveyed and are for thresher run, clean basis.• Canadian prices are gathered from a variety of sources, primarily the Saskatchewan govern-ment’s website.Current exchange rate:

(9/24/2010)1.00 Canadian dollar =

.98 U.S. dollar

Click on this link to access more market pricing

information from:Bean Market News

USDA MArket CoMMentS (“Bean Market News,” Randy Hammerstrom, Market Reporter):DEALER MARKET: Trading activity was slow. Demand was light. Austrian Winter Peas and PNW lentils were steady to firm with full incline on Pardina lentils. Green and yellow peas were not established. Northern Plains whole green and yellow peas and lentils were not established. PNW Chickpeas were steady. CA Chickpeas were not established.GROWER MARKET: Trading activity was slow. PNW green and yellow peas were steady to 50 cents higher. AWP were not established, and lentils were sharply higher. Northern Plains green and yellow peas were mostly steady. Lentils were sharply higher due to a limited supply because of adverse weather conditions. PNW Chickpeas were steady. CA Chickpeas were not established.

GROWER PRICE CHART (Prices in U.S. Dollars/cwt) #1 GradeThis Week Last Week Last Year

Variety 9/24/2010 9/17/2010 9/25/2009Pacific Northwest Low High Low High Low High

Green Peas (Vine) $9.00 $10.00 $8.50 $9.00Ltd. $9.00 $10.00Green Peas (Up-right) $9.00 $10.00 $8.50 $9.00Ltd. $9.00Yellow Peas $7.50 $8.00 $7.00 $8.00Ltd. $8.00 $9.00AWP Not Established Ltd. $16.00 $18.00Ltd. $18.00Lentils (Brewer) $24.00 $25.00 $23.00 $25.00Ltd. $22.00 $24.00Lentils (Pardina) $24.00 $26.00 $22.00Ltd. $22.00 $24.00Chickpeas $27.00 $28.00 $27.00 $28.00NC $28.00 $29.00

North Dakota Low High Low High Low High

Green Peas $7.75 $8.75 $8.33 $8.75Ltd. $6.25 $8.75Yellow Peas $6.25 $7.08 $6.25 $7.08Ltd. $5.83 $6.67Lentils (Richlea) $28.00 $34.00 $25.00 $28.00Ltd. $18.00 $20.00Chickpeas Not Established Not Established Not Established

California Low High Low High Low High

Chickpeas (54/58s) Not Established Not Established Not Established

Canada (Prices in U.S. Dollars/cwt)Green Peas $9.26 $8.99 $11.50Yellow Peas $8.34 $8.20 $7.28Feed Peas $5.01 $4.38 $5.21Lentils (Laird) $35.14 $32.38 $26.04Lentils (Red) $25.66 $24.80 $23.14Lentils (Richlea) $30.42 $29.46 $22.77Chickpeas (Desi) $24.83 $25.30 $23.30Chickpeas

$30.07 $30.44 $27.30(Kabuli 9mm)

USDA 2010 National Posted Price and Loan Rate SummaryDry Peas Lentils Large Chickpeas Small Chickpeas

West Midwest West Midwest All All2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009

Date Pulse Loan Rate $6.33 $6.12 $5.46 $5.25 $13.17 $14.62 $12.30 $9.65 $11.28 $11.48 $7.43 $7.43

This Week 9/24/10 NPP $9.17 $9.17 $8.30 $8.30 $23.80 $23.80 $18.83 $18.83 $25.00 $25.00 $18.25 $18.25LDP/Market Gain $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Last Week 9/17/10 NPP $8.54 $8.54 $7.67 $7.67 $22.40 $22.40 $17.43 $17.43 $21.33 $21.33 $14.58 $14.58

LDP/Market Gain $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00National Loan Rates: Peas-$5.40, Lentils-$11.28, Large Chickpeas-$11.28, Small Chickpeas-$7.43: NPP Price based on #1 grade

West region -all counties in the Palouse (Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) and other states west of the Rocky Mountains (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah).

Midwest region -all counties in Montana and North Dakota, plus all counties in all other states not in the West Region.

Market Gain can be used as a discount for marketing loan repayment. Contact your local FSA office if you have any questions.

Source: USDA Farm Service Agency

Announcements

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September 24, 2010

Friday Funnies

CalendarSeptember

27-28: Int’l Staff Conference San Diego, CA29-Oct. 1: USPLTA Annual Mtg. San Diego, CA30: FAQ Meeting San Diego, CA

October11: Columbus Day, Office Closed12-22: SIAL Paris, France 20: HACCP Food Safety Moscow, Idaho26-27: Joint Staff Conference Spokane, Wash.

November10-11: National Board Meeting Fargo, ND16-18: USAEDC Baltimore, MD25-26: Thanksgiving, Office Closed

Rights to Amit (B90) ChickpeasAlliance Grain Traders - operating as Saskcan Pulse Trading in Canada and United Pulse Trading in the US - has exclusive right, entitlement and authority throughout Canada and the US of maintenance, multiplication, distribution and sale, processing and exporting of the Amit (B90) chickpea.

Alliance Grain Traders contracts the production of Amit (B90) with growers under a complete production contract which will include a right of first refusal on all sales of the commodity. If a producer does not have a signed production contract with Alliance Grain Traders, then production of the Amit (B90) is being grown without permission.

Further information can be found at Alliance Grain Traders.

Child Nutrition Faces Bumpy Road

Funding is always an issue, and the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act faces that challenge as well. The USADPLC is in support of pulse crops being required in the school feeding program, but groups who say the child nutrition movement will cut into food stamp benefits.As was stated in the NPR article, “Technically, the food stamp money “cuts” are a repeal of promised future increases, a.k.a. not yet “real money”. But uncomfortably for President Obama, it pits school lunch advocates against people with no lunch.”The Senate bill adds about 6 cents per lunch. A figure not even touching what

some groups think should be a $5 increase per lunch. (Currently, about $3 per lunch is spent, most going to overhead and labor.)Congress will recess next week, however, and no decisions or further discussions on this bill or any other of the bills that hold potential impact for the pulse industry will occur until after the elections.

Read the entire story