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Tag Archives Futures contract

cattle in a feedlot
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, Markets

Market message: Time to cut beef production

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: The market will bounce back temporarily, but producers should consider liquidating cows

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Western Canadian cattle prices have been quite volatile over the past month. Alberta fed cattle prices climbed higher for seven weeks in a row from late November through the first week of January. Alberta packer bids rose from $147 to highs of $167 during this time. The finished market appeared to divorce from the live […] Read more
Grain marketing lessons learned the hard way
Columns, Markets

Grain marketing lessons learned the hard way

Events in 2017 gave us many opportunities to make grain marketing mistakes

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I know some of you living in Alberta where the boom and bust cycle of the oil and gas industry is all too common will have seen a bumper sticker on an oilfield worker’s truck that says, “Lord, give me one more chance at another oil boom and I promise I won’t piss it all […] Read more
Life after the de-listing of the ICE futures
Columns, Markets

Life after the de-listing of the ICE futures

The on-farm impact of the de-listing of milling wheat, durum and barley contracts

By
In the last issue I wrote about the de-listing of the ICE milling wheat, durum and barley future and options contracts. These contracts were introduced in 2012, then de-listed on October 26, 2017. Now, let’s address three reasons why you should care. Reason 1: The loss of these contracts gives you one less tool to […] Read more
Today’s cash cattle market is deceiving
Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Markets

Today’s cash cattle market is deceiving

Market Update: It will be a different market in late 2018 compared to late 2017

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It’s that time of year when most feedlot and backgrounding operations are running near full capacity and the focus turns to marketing. The live and feeder cattle futures had been quite volatile over the past month when this was written in late December, which can make cattle producers quite nervous. While the futures market has […] Read more
Finding the price in the new age
Columns, Markets

Finding the price in the new age

With delisted futures contracts, who’s responsible for price discovery?

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Over the past five years there have been major changes to the Prairie grain marketing landscape that have — or should have — changed the way you market your grain. The biggest change, and no doubt the catalyst for many of the changes since, was the removal of the monopoly marketing powers of the Canadian […] Read more
Post-harvest marketing plan time
Columns, Marketing, Markets

Post-harvest marketing plan time

With your crop in the bin, it’s time to get to the work of grain marketing

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Your location will have had a big impact to your harvest outcome this year. Weather issues stressed crops across the Prairies. Whether you had a bumper crop or a poor crop, you need to review your marketing plan. This is the critical time when prices and trends can be set for the better part of […] Read more
farm equipment seeding
Columns, Markets

Review pre-signed contracts after seeding

Once your crop is in the ground, revise your marketing plan to suit 2017 conditions

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Last spring I wrote about the dry spring weather and how to set up a marketing plan that would work for your farm regardless of what the weather did for the rest of the year. Now I’ll continue with that theme but with somewhat of a twist. It’s certainly not dry like it was last […] Read more
wheat and U.S. currency
Columns

Riding on the U.S. dollar rollercoaster

Swings in the price we pay for the U.S. dollar will impact profitability on your farm

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Since the Board Room Bully took over in Washington in November, promising to revitalize the U.S. economy and provide more jobs and opportunities for Americans, we have seen a change in attitudes in the markets. Just after the election, we saw the U.S. dollar index jump to historic levels, based on hopes that Trump’s plans […] Read more
May 2017 canola futures chart.
Canola, Columns, Markets

A price chart is worth a thousand words

What can we learn from a look back at this May 2017 canola futures chart?

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I was looking at this May 2017 canola futures charts the other day to remind myself just how much we can learn from them. It is a lot easier to figure out the trends and patterns on a chart after they’ve happened than it is to decipher what will happen while it is happening. Cyclical […] Read more
Understanding feeder cattle options
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, Markets

Understanding feeder cattle options

The Markets: Using a “put” option to avoid margin calls


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In the previous three columns on feeder cattle marketing (found in the ‘On our network’ column on the right-hand side of this page), I’ve discussed hedging feeder cattle production using the feeder cattle futures market. Many producers hesitate to use a futures market because of the cash flow requirements. When you sell a futures contract, there […] Read more

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