(Photo courtesy Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Canary seed set for more acres

Crop seen as competitive against wheat for area in West

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — While the price of canary seed in Western Canada has come down over the past couple of years, there is optimism that acres devoted to the specialty grain will increase in 2023. David Nobbs, pulse merchant for Purely Canada Foods in Saskatoon and former chair of the Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan, […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: U.S. futures drag down wheat bids

Potential for more interest rate hikes remains

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Hawkish comments from the chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the possible renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative brought down wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) for the week ended Thursday — and, in turn, pressured western Canadian wheat bids. In front of the U.S. Senate banking committee […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Corn the choice crop in feedlots

'Bigger feedlots are looking for volume'

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Copious amounts of corn are still being delivered to feedlots in southern Alberta despite slowly declining prices for other feed grains. “Corn is coming down over the last little bit,” Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Ltd. in Lethbridge said. “You think that there would be a little bit more barley hitting the market. […] Read more

Yellow peas. (Victoria Popova/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba growers not worried about Merit situation

Pea, canola protein processor in receivership

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — After Manitoba-based plant protein processor Merit Functional Foods went into receivership last Wednesday, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) executive director Daryl Domitruk said it is not a microcosm of the province’s pulse industry. Domitruk said MPSG learned about Merit’s financial situation through the media. He also added that some Manitoba pea growers […] Read more


ICE May 2023 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola drifts downward with soybeans

Wheat's recent decline may spur canola acres

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market drifted downward during the week ended Wednesday largely due to macroeconomic activity in the markets, according to one analyst. Jerry Klassen from Resilient Commodity Analysis in Winnipeg said canola prices have mostly followed the lead of the Chicago soy complex, while rains fell on Brazil as its soybean […] Read more

CBOT March 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Wide array of factors affecting grain prices

Corn, soy see speculative profit-taking

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Recent rains in parts of South America, as well as a correction in the markets, have paused rallies in corn and soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to one trader. Jack Scoville, vice-president of The Price Futures Group in Chicago, said that while central and southern Argentina are still mired […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Little change in wheat bids

U.S. wheat futures up on week

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Despite bullish factors affecting wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), western Canadian wheat bids did not see much change during the week ended Thursday. Futures prices for all three major U.S. varieties increased week-by-week, mostly fuelled by large gains on Feb. 10, as traders shifted focus to Russia’s invasion of […] Read more

Oats. (Greg Berg photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain bids quietly drift lower

Oats still making their way into feedlots

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley and wheat in Western Canada drifted lower during the week ended Wednesday. Erin Harakal, trade manager for Agfinity Inc. at Stony Plain, Alta., said a relatively milder winter across the Prairies has resulted in less consumption of feed grains in feedlots. In turn, feedlots are not purchasing as much […] Read more


Humanitarian aid provided by Palestinian Arabs is distributed at northwestern Syria’s Deir Ballut and Muhammadiyah camps near the Turkish border on Feb. 13, 2022. (Photo: Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via Reuters)

Pulse weekly outlook: Earthquake to have little effect on pulse markets

Such disasters don't often blow back on agrifood commodity costs

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria on Monday last week, taking the lives of more than 40,000 people, may not have a major effect on pulse markets, according to one analyst. Jon Driedger from Leftfield Commodity Research in Winnipeg said that while natural disasters like an earthquake can take on […] Read more

ICE March 2023 canola with 20-day moving average (yellow line, right column) and Canadian dollar value in U.S. dollars (red line, left column). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: March canola unchanged from last week

Loonie's relative strength seen as drag on values

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was once again trading rangebound for the week ended Wednesday, as the March contract was left unchanged from one week earlier at $828.20. The contract oscillated between a range of $819.40 and $837 per tonne during the week, all the while seemingly immune from larger price ranges seen […] Read more