Yellow Peas are only a small proportion of the UK Market and they tend only to be grown on contract. Historically grown for animal feed they can now command premiums for both human consumption & the bird food trade.

In the UK Split Yellow Peas are used for soups, stews, casseroles and also in Pease Pudding. Whole Yellow Peas are used in the Ethnic trade in a variety of dishes, and indeed India is a large importer of Yellow Peas, and providing the UK is competitive, any UK surplus will go in this direction.

Usually however, Canada with its large production and cheaper prices, gets the biggest volume of business. The Continent also takes a fair quantity mainly for soup production, and indeed Askew & Barrett have exported Yellow Peas to Norway on a regular basis for many years. Again however, because of the yield factor, the UK acreage has dropped over the years and many growers prefer other types of pulses.

Yellow pea varieties are sown in March and usually harvested in July/august
at around 15% moisture. Their main benefit to farmers is that there is no risk of bleaching. They are normally long, stiff strawed varieties and are usually the first of the dry peas to be harvested.