Going soft on ICE

The ICE Futures U.S. exchange, home to Canadian canola contracts, is also the primary price discovery platform for the so-called “soft” commodities, including coffee, cocoa, sugar and frozen concentrated orange juice. While Canada does export some sugar, the country is largely a price-taker for all those commodities and holiday bakers may feel an extra pinch[...]

Market experts predict yellow fields for the year

My neighbour recently had her house painted, transforming the once-drab stucco with peeling green trim into a beautiful rusty red with cream-coloured accents. Just a few days before the painters showed up, she was still second-guessing her colour choices, but the end result looks great. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders while also[...]


The 30,000-foot view

After being repeatedly thwarted by the pandemic, I finally made it to Mexico for a family vacation recently. Hot temperatures, cool drinks, and not a thought of the commodity markets — until the flight home. Crop report There’s not much to the crop report from above 30,000 feet. Most of the southern United States looked[...]



Tighter cattle supply bodes well for spring values

Manitoba cattle auctions were busy during the second week of February, with slaughter cows and lighter-weight feeders seeing solid demand. More strength is expected in the next few months, although high feed costs and transportation issues were being followed closely. While the numbers moving through the rings were relatively solid, they were still below what[...]




Healthy demand greets lighter-weight cattle

Manitoba cattle auction yards remained busy during the first week of December, but should start to slow down heading into the new year. Lightweight feeders were seeing the best demand, with heavier animals running into some resistance. “We probably have another 10 days of good deliveries before everybody shuts down for the holidays,” Rick Wright[...]



Green peas regain premium over yellows

MarketsFarm – Solid demand and tighter supplies have seen green pea bids regain a premium over yellow peas in Western Canada, although the market for both varieties remains solid overall. Green peas historically trade at premium to yellow peas due to higher quality specs and concerns over bleaching, but increased domestic demand for yellow peas[...]