MGEX May 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with K.C. May 2021 wheat (orange line), CBOT May 2021 wheat (red line) and Canadian dollar in U.S. cents (green line). (Barchart)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids mixed as loonie jumps

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Bids for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheats dropped while those for Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat made their way upward during the week ending Wednesday. Wheat futures in the U.S. were mixed, while the Canadian dollar rose. The market reacted to both the prospective plantings […] Read more

A man waves an Egyptian flag after the Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, is fully floated on the Suez Canal in Egypt on March 29, 2021. (Photo: Suez Canal Authority handout via Reuters)

Pulse weekly outlook: Shipping delays aggravate growers, exporters

Montreal longshoremen's strike again possible

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — On top of disruptions to major supply chains and shipping routes already due to the COVID-19 pandemic, recent events are causing even more headaches for pulse exporters and growers. The six-day blockage of the Suez Canal by the grounded container ship Ever Given caused a major backup of container ships, tankers and other […] Read more


Photo: ARS/USDA

Hog market recovering from pandemic lows

China again a major driver of hog values

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — In April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, prices for lean hog futures dropped to their lowest point since 2002, falling below US$40 per hundredweight. Nearly a year later, the industry is in the middle of a speedy recovery. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Thursday, lean hog futures […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prices to remain strong in spring

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Higher prices for feed grains in Western Canada are expected to stay that way, according to a trader in Alberta. Erin Harakal, senior trader for Agfinity at Stony Plain, Alta., said factors such as increased demand overseas and depleted domestic stocks will continue to keep prices elevated for feed grains. While she doesn’t […] Read more


The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Markets move ahead of USDA report

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) market participants are awaiting next week’s prospective plantings report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), due out March 31. Ahead of the report, average trade estimates predict 93 million acres of corn, 90 million acres of soybeans and 46 million acres of wheat will be planted in […] Read more

Oats. (Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Oats riding high with other crops

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Increased demand, both domestically and overseas, has caused the price of oats grown in Western Canada to rise compared to last year. And so far, seeding projections and rising prices for other crops suggest the market for oats won’t go down anytime soon. According to Prairie Ag Hotwire data from Wednesday, high-delivered bids […] Read more



(Medioimages/Photodisc/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Crop futures in all directions

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Chinese sales of corn and a recent run of good weather in the U.S. are affecting futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wednesday, according to a broker. Ryan Ettner of Chicago-based Allendale Inc. said recent purchases of old-crop corn from China are supporting prices, while prices for new-crop have stayed relatively […] Read more