Feed barley picture will change by fall

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: With high feed prices, western Canadian feedlots will be at a competitive disadvantage to U.S. feedlots until September

Prairie barley prices reached historical highs earlier in January. Lethbridge-area feedlots were buying feed barley in the range of $445-$455/tonne delivered while Red Deer operations made purchases from $430-$440/tonne. The barley market is functioning to ration demand through higher prices. The domestic feed market needs to trade high enough to halt offshore movement for barley […] Read more


A canola crop in an early pod stage in 2020. The demand for canola is in the industry's favour, says the president of the Canola Council of Canada.

Canola outlook: farmers face disruption, uncertainty and great opportunity

It was a difficult year for many canola producers across the Prairies in 2021 due to the historic drought, which lowered yields and, in the worst cases, wiped out crops completely. Supply chain challenges compounded the difficulties farmers faced created by the global pandemic. Jim Everson, Canola Council of Canada president, acknowledged these adversities in […] Read more

On the morning of Dec. 30, the nearby January canola contract apparently hit a new all-time high.  Photo: File

Another volatile holiday week for grain markets

MarketsFarm – As trading is most often volatile between Christmas and New Year’s, this week did not disappoint. Canola pretty much ran the gamut, swinging higher one day, falling back the next. During the overnight session that ended on the morning of Dec. 30, the nearby January contract apparently hit a new all-time high when […] Read more


The Chicago Board of Trade building on May 28, 2018. (Harmantasdc/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: All quiet on the CBOT front

MarketsFarm – The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is typically a time for the markets to slow down, and at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), that’s certainly the case. At approximately 10:50 a.m. CST, the volumes for both the highly-traded March corn and soybean contracts did not exceed 78,000, while a typical […] Read more



Photo: Rezowan/Wikimedia Commons

Mustard supply crunch fuels price spikes

MarketsFarm – As the world’s largest producer of mustard, a sharp decline in Canadian production has already made a major impact on supply and prices. Despite an increase in seeded acres, Canada’s mustard production dropped 28 per cent to 71,000 tonnes for the 2021-22 marketing year, according to Statistics Canada’s September crop report. Of the […] Read more



Photo: Canstock

Canadian canola oil content well below average

Canada’s hot and dry growing season in 2021 cut into the oil content of the country’s canola crop, with preliminary data pointing to the second-lowest oil content of the past two decades. Preliminary sample data compiled by the Canadian Grain Commission shows average oil content for number one quality canola in 2021/22 at 41.9 per […] Read more