Wheat being loaded onto a cargo ship in Vancouver in 2011. (File photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms)

Exports tumble as supplies simply not there

'There's very little to sell'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Cereal and oilseed exports out of Canada nosedived in August just as the 2021-22 marketing began, according to the monthly export report from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC). At about 2.24 million tonnes, total grain exports were down 38.5 per cent overall compared to those in August 2020. “There’s very little to sell. […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market continues consolidation

U.S. corn northbound into Prairies

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were relatively unchanged while calf markets were down $2-$3 on average. Feedlot inventories in Alberta and Saskatchewan are 30 per cent above the five-year average; therefore, demand is lacking moving into the main marketing period for calves. Finishing feedlots have sufficient ownership and being fairly finicky on […] Read more



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U.S. spring wheat crop down sharply in 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Spring wheat production in the United States was down sharply in 2021, according to the latest annual small grains report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Total spring wheat production was pegged at 9.01 million tonnes by the government agency, down 44 per cent from the 15.99 million tonnes grown the previous year. […] Read more


Photo: Thinkstock

Feed weekly outlook: Canadian markets firm, waiting on U.S. corn

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian feed grain bids remain strong, although end-users are only buying on a hand-to-mouth basis as they await an influx of cheaper corn imports from the U.S. “Everybody is waiting on the corn situation to figure out where we’ll go,” said Suzanne Leclerc, owner of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton. “Buyers are buying […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market holds value

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $2-$4 on either side of unchanged; calf prices held value, but there were pockets like Lethbridge where values were $2-$4 higher. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis in the range of $156-$158. If an Alberta feedlot booked its feed grains in April […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Harvest lowers wheat, barley prices

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — With the hot and dry summer of 2021 now in the rearview mirror, the higher-than-normal prices for Alberta feed wheat and barley are starting to taper off as combining nears completion. “I think what we’ve been seeing for feed barley prices in (southern Alberta) is anywhere from $380 (per tonne) for October and […] Read more

File photo of emerging durum south of Griffin, Sask. on May 31, 2019. (Leeann Minogue photo)

BASF warns on seeding choices for drought-hit imi-treated fields

Steer clear of non-Clearfield canola, durum, canary seed in rotations, company says

Reading Time: 5 minutes Updated, Sept. 22 — The maker of Odyssey, Solo and Viper is warning grain growers whose fields were excessively dry in 2021 that those herbicides may not break down soon enough in those soils to allow certain seeding choices in 2022. BASF Canada on Monday issued an “urgent notice to growers” in which the company […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Finishing feedlot demand drives yearlings higher

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearlings traded $2 lower to as much as $5 higher. Strength was once again noted in southern Alberta where heavier yearlings recorded a fresh 52-week high. Calves were relatively unchanged from week-ago levels. Larger groups of quality weaned genetics traded as much $5 above average values. Feather-lite bawlers under […] Read more

A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Grain exports running well behind year-ago pace

Prices, low stocks keep lid on demand

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian grain exports are running well behind the year-ago pace through the first few weeks of the 2021-22 marketing year, as smaller supplies and high prices limit offshore demand. Total exports of all of the major grains, oilseeds and pulses as of Sept. 12 of 3.162 million tonnes are down by about 2.1 […] Read more