
Author Archives
China’s Influence On The Canola Market
During the course of any given day, I get questions on price outlook for any number of commodities: canola and wheat are the obvious biggies, but also oats, barley, flax, peas, etc. And while I could talk on and on about individual commodity fundamentals, quite frankly during these days of heightened grain market volatility that […] Read more
Analysis growth in vessel supply pressures ocean freight rates
Winnipeg, July 22 – It’s common to use global shipping rate trends as a proxy of global economic health. If demand for goods and raw materials are strong, so should it be transparent in rising shipping rates and demand to move product across the ocean. But rates have tumbled dramatically in the past two months. […] Read more
Analysis: Wheat lows likely in place, entering sideways period
Winnipeg, July 19 – The ability of the wheat market to move higher these past two weeks has been somewhat surprising to analysts, with it now appearing like the lows for the wheat market are probably in following two years of steadily bearish fundamental injection. However, given still ample global supplies, the wheat market was […] Read more
Technicals Point To Higher Canola
WRITTEN MAY 23, 2009 U. S. ag commodity futures are trending higher through the spring so far. It’s interesting to note the huge flow of speculative money coming back into the ag sector in recent weeks. Soybean futures are supported once again by the tightening stocks situation for U. S. soybeans. Sources close to Informa […] Read more
Supply Concerns Push Up Soybeans
WRITTEN APRIL 20, 2009 It has been interesting to watch Chicago soybean futures rally over the past month, testing their highest levels since late January. Concerns about tightening old crop U. S. bean supplies amid rumours of stepped up Chinese buying helped send futures higher. Traders are also noting disappointing Argentine soybean yields, keeping importers […] Read more
Bullish News On U. S. Soybean Acres
U. S. prospective plantings Crop Corn Soybeans All Wheat Other Spring Wheat Durum 2009 (USDA April forecast) 84.986 76.024 58.638 13.304 2.445 2008 Average (millions of acres) 84.548 Range Seedings 85.982 79.251 58.856 13.639 2.622 81.400-89.000 75.900-81.500 56.700-63.000 13.000-14.007 2.200-2.800 75.718 63.147 14.135 2.731 Written April 4, 2009 This past week, USDA released the first […] Read more
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, energy prices and the U. S. dollar are driving grain markets. Fundamentals such as weather and supply and demand are secondary
WRITTEN MARCH 8, 2009 The past year and a half has been like no other we have seen in the grain markets. We’ve experienced rallies to never before seen heights and then the rapid and long liquidation with price plunges that at times had us all frozen like deer in the headlights. At market outlook […] Read more
Crude Drags Down Oilseeds
WRITTEN FEBRUARY 14, 2009 During this past week (February 9 to 13), I received a number of responses from Alberta growers to the question whether cash canola bids of $10 per bushel have recently appeared in your local area. I was somewhat surprised. Earlier in the week, various companies were indeed offering cash bids of […] Read more
Canola Acres Up, Wheat Down
Written February 1, 2009 Agriculture Canada expects area seeded to spring wheat and durum wheat this spring will be down significantly from a year ago, while it expects canola acreage to set a new record. In its first look at what Canadian producers plan to plant in the 2009-10 crop year, the market analysis branch […] Read more
The risk is that too many acres will get seeded, and the good prices will collapse pretty quickly. Lentils could see a record two million acres this year
Written January 25, 2009 Using recently updated Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture cost of production numbers, it would seem that among the better returning crops for 2009 (using costs and returns of various crops as it stands today), mustard and lentils rank pretty high. Lentils Lentil prices in the past week or two have seen a […] Read more
Grainews is written for farmers and often by farmers. It is about putting theory into practice on the farm. Each issue also features Cattleman’s Corner for cow-calf producers and farmers with mixed cattle and grain operations.