Concern that the rising Red River will delay seeding, long enough for farmers in Manitoba, Minnesota and the Dakotas to switch to soybeans, is among the factors supporting the new-crop wheat outlook.

The Canadian Wheat Board on March 26 rolled out its latest pool return outlooks (PROs) for both 2009-10 and 2008-09, showing the biggest increases in new-crop (2009-10) milling wheats, rising $8 per tonne.

For example, No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat at 12.5 per cent protein is listed at $290 per tonne in the March 2009-10 PRO, up from $282 in February. No. 1 CW Red Winter (CWRW) is $251 per tonne, up from $243.

But durum values in the March 2009-10 PRO are all $3 per tonne lower; No. 1 CW Amber durum (11.5), for example, is at $290 per tonne.

Malting barley PROs for March 2009-10 are also down by $8 per tonne from February, with Select CW two-row and six-row now at $255 and $235 respectively. Pool A feed barley ($161), feed wheat ($198) and No. 5 CWAD ($198) are unchanged.

Values for wheat, durum and malting barley changed only slightly, meanwhile, in the March 2008-09 PROs. Most grades of milling-quality wheat were up $1 per tonne; No. 1 CWRS (12.5) is at $298. Nos. 3 and 4 CWRS and CW Feed are flat at $266, $254 and $196 respectively.

Milling durum values in the March 2008-09 PROs ranged from up $2 to down $3 per tonne. No. 1 CWAD (11.5) is at $356, up from $354, while No. 2 and No. 3 CWAD (both 13.0) are at $344 and $329, down $3 each. No. 5 CWAD is flat at $196.

No. 1 CW feed barley (Pool B) dropped $3 per tonne in the March 2008-09 PRO to $166, while Select CW two-row and six-row malting barley both remained flat from February at $320 and $300, respectively.