Grain trade expects lower canola yields

Harvest operations are in their early stages across Western Canada, leaving the canola market in a somewhat precarious position awaiting news and biding time until there’s a clearer picture on the size of this year’s crop. The November contract held in a rather narrow $30 per tonne range in early August, between $770 and $800,[...]

Grain, oilseed markets trending lower

The major North American grain and oilseed markets continued to trend lower in mid-February, with canola, soybeans, corn and wheat contracts all setting new contract lows as the futures work to uncover demand. Burdensome supply/demand fundamentals, coupled with heavily short speculators and farmer selling on any attempts at moving higher, give little reason to expect[...]



Survey says…

Back in my university days, I had a part-time job conducting market research surveys on evenings and weekends. “On a scale of one to seven, how satisfied are you with the flavour of x-brand toothpaste?” or “In the past month, have you heard any beer ads on the radio?” That kind of thing. It could[...]


Interest rates remain of interest to grain traders

Much of the attention in North American grain and oilseed markets has shifted to production prospects in South America, as wheat fields develop in Argentina and farmers in Brazil work on seeding their next soybean and corn crops. Weather there will be a major factor on traders’ radar over the next few months, but larger financial and geopolitical issues will[...]

Grain markets by the numbers

The United States Department of Agriculture released a slew of data on Jan. 12 that could provide nearby direction for futures heading through the relatively quiet winter months. U.S. production The final production numbers for the 2023-24 U.S. growing season placed soybean yields at 50.6 bushels per acre and corn yields at 177.3 bu./ac. Both were well above trade[...]


Strong prices but slow start to fall cattle run

Manitoba’s cattle auctions were busy during the first week of October as the seasonal fall run slowly picked up steam. The solid numbers led to pressure on some classes, while persistent trucking issues remain a concern. Overall, the market remained strong, with prices generally well above levels at the same time a year ago. Lighter-weight steers under 500[...]

Will canola find its resolve?

Losing weight and exercising more are common New Year’s resolutions, with many people looking to improve their fitness after the excesses of the holidays. It’s rare for those grand ideas to hold up though, as treadmills gather dust and gym memberships go unused. The agricultural futures markets had their ups and downs in 2023, with[...]


Prices may react to snarled supply lines

Seasonal harvest operations will soon be winding down across Western Canada, with the soybean and corn crops in the U.S. Midwest not too far behind. How easily that grain flows out of the countryside can have a major influence on prices, especially if export demand is curtailed. Mississippi River An estimated 60 per cent of[...]

Grain market relativity

On the Prairies, distance between two places can be measured in many ways, and the official unit of kilometres is among the rarest. Grid roads were established every mile well before the introduction of the metric system, while time as a distance measurement is even more common. “It’s about 20 minutes away. Turn left, drive[...]