While every year presents its own challenges and opportunities, a number of themes kept reappearing with only slight variations.

Looking back at the decade that was in grain markets

As the ‘teens come to a close, it’s been 10 years of enormous change

The more things change, the more they stay the same.’ There was no shortage of market moving topics to write about over the past decade, from the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board to the rise of tweet-based international diplomacy, but did anything really change? Grain and oilseed prices had their ups and downs, but



Canola in swath near Starbuck, Man. on Aug. 10, 2019. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

StatsCan report puts canola production at lowest since 2015

MarketsFarm — Data from Statistics Canada’s production of principal field crops report, released Friday morning, will likely be supportive of canola values, put pressure on barley, and keep wheat prices steady. In the report, canola production across Canada decreased by 8.3 per cent nationally to 18.6 million tonnes, compared to 2018 production volumes. The decreased


Dried Ear of Cereal crop in studio isolated against white background.

French wheat and barley ratings decline

Crop ratings for French wheat and barley have fallen sharply, while farmers made little progress with sowing and harvesting, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed Nov. 22, suggesting heavy rain was continuing to affect field conditions. An estimated 78 per cent of soft wheat, France’s main cereal crop, was rated good or excellent in the

(Dave Bedard photo)

Trade’s crop estimates vary ahead of StatsCan report

MarketsFarm — Barley and canola production expectations vary ahead of Statistics Canada’s production of principal field crops report, due out Friday. In September, the federal agency estimated Canada’s barley production to total just less than 10 million tonnes, two million higher than the final count for the 2018-19 growing year. However, some trade estimates are






Glencore’s head office in Baar, Switzerland. (Glencore.com)

Glencore’s head barley trader leaves post

Paris | Reuters –– Glencore Agriculture removed head barley trader Mathieu Kleine from his post last week, market sources familiar with the matter said. The grain merchant, which is part owned by diversified commodity group Glencore, dismissed Kleine due to disappointing results, two of the sources said. It was not clear if Kleine was still