Since harvest has wrapped up, grain markets have been acting out an epic interpretation of a three act Shakespearean tragedy. There has been mystery, intrigue, feelings of horror, hurt and betrayal, and rumours of foul play. That sums up how many of you may be feeling as the grain markets continue on this downward death […] Read more
Rail transportation adds to market woes
Pre-pricing next year’s crop
Now that you’ve had a brief moment to relax after harvest, it’s time for the next marketing adventure! Let’s look at doing some pre-pricing of next year’s crop! Why so early, you might ask? Let’s look at what has happened over the last two years, production-wise, and see where that leads us. Two years ago […] Read more
Post-harvest marketing
Now that your crop’s in the bin, find out how to get a price for it that will keep you sleeping well at night
Harvest is done. Now what’s the next thing you should be focusing on, marketing wise? The grain is in the bin and you still have some of it unpriced. When should you price it? How can you better protect yourself price wise if futures values continue to erode? The current situation First you need to […] Read moreContact choices
What is your storage capacity? What are your cash flow needs? Do you have any income tax issues? What crops did you grow and what pricing options are available for these grains? What is the quality of your grain? What is the market outlook, short term (three to six months) and long term (six to […] Read more
Contact choices
What is your storage capacity? What are your cash flow needs? Do you have any income tax issues? What crops did you grow and what pricing options are available for these grains? What is the quality of your grain? What is the market outlook, short term (three to six months) and long term (six to […] Read more
Living with market volatility
What has this summer taught us about market volatility? That it is alive and well and causing all kinds of market mayhem! Adequate moisture and good growing conditions in the U.S. and Western Canada increased production estimates for all crops, which drove futures values lower daily. Cool wet weather in parts of the U.S. and across the […] Read more
Market dynamics
How have the markets changed since spring? Let’s start by looking at Prairie weather to date: March/April: Late snows left ample moisture but threatened to delay seeding and/or potentially reduce acres seeded. April/May: Warm weather allowed for quick seeding. June: Excess moisture flooded some areas and made spraying a bit of a mud fling at […] Read more
Understanding market bulls and bears: Know your grain contracts
Knowing the ins and out of these four types of grain contracts could help you choose the best deal for your business
Let’s review types of pricing contracts offered by grain companies. Most grain companies have come up with a number of variations of price averaging contracts, minimum price/options contracts, premium plus and target price contracts. These innovations in contracting provide you with many different choices, but along with these choices comes more confusion. Choice is always […] Read morePre-harvest contracting of cash grains
What do we consider cash grains? These are grains that do not have an active futures or options contract trading that you can use to offset pricing and delivery risk. These include durum, malt barley, feed barley, flax, peas, and all other special crops. What can you do to reduce your pricing and delivery risk […] Read more
Building the perfect marketing contract
Brian Wittal offers some warnings and suggestions for dealing with grade risk when you sign sales contracts
In the last issue of Grainews I discussed a perfect grain marketing contract from a farmer’s perspective. Having thought about this a little more the past two weeks I think we may need to change the term “perfect” to “fair and equitable.” With that change in mind we can work on coming up with terms […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
