NYMEX March 2023 West Texas Intermediate crude oil (candlesticks) with 100-day moving average (black line) and ICE March 2023 Brent crude oil (blue open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

China driving crude oil price increases

Bulls on crude oil expect a 'very shallow' recession

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — China has largely been behind the current upticks in global crude oil prices, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Services in Lakewood, NJ. He suggested that China’s economy will begin to pick up steam in 2023 after the government loosened its super-tight COVID-19 restrictions. “You can […] Read more

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

Pulse weekly outlook: New Year’s pressure drags on North Dakota peas

Pea prices relatively higher north of border

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Pea prices in North Dakota have been feeling pressure from the New Year, according to Landon Lechler of Beach Co-operative at Beach, N.D., about 360 km south of Weyburn, Sask. Besides the turning of the calendar New Year, Lechler said the upcoming Chinese New Year has slowed export demand for yellow and green […] Read more


ICE March 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola likely rangebound until spring

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Unless something very dramatic were to happen in the coming weeks, canola futures on the ICE Futures platform will remain rangebound at least until spring, according to David Derwin, analyst with PI Financial in Winnipeg. “Canola has been very rangebound for the last six to seven months,” he said, noting downward fluctuations during […] Read more

File photo of the facade of the U.S. Department of Agriculture building in Washington, D.C. (Camrocker/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: USDA ‘data dump’ due next week

'Minor changes' expected for corn, soy

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — A flurry of reports is coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 12, including its monthly supply and demand estimates, quarterly grains stocks report and winter wheat planting report, among others. Futures International analyst Terry Reilly said the multitude of the reports coming out that Thursday will essentially be a […] Read more


A drone’s-eye view of crews repairing a levee, north of the Cosumnes River, after it was breached by heavy rains and flooded Sacramento County roads and properties near Wilton, just southeast of Sacramento, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Northern California deluge’s current rainfall level expected again

Flood risk to continue into next week

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — While the deluge of rain over northern California took a day’s break on Tuesday, agricultural meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. said the heavy precipitation would soon resume. Following the worst drought in California history, the state has been receiving very intense precipitation that’s brought flooding to its northern areas. “It will […] Read more

ICE March 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Markets rangebound into the New Year

ICE canola plays catch-up on CBOT gains

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As 2022 comes to an end, a trader stated the commodities market will very likely remain rangebound through the New Year. Ken Ball, of PI Financial in Winnipeg, said there’s heavy spreading, as well as the maneuvering of year-end positions and plenty of liquidation going on at the moment, “all trapped in a […] Read more


File photo of winter wheat plants in snow. (Volodymyr Shtun/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: U.S. winter wheat to feel the cold

Crop off to 'a really bad start'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — With frigid weather coming out of the Arctic, across the Canadian Prairies and into the U.S., there has been an upswing in wheat prices at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Prior to Christmas Day, temperatures are expected to fall as cold as -40 C in the northern Plains to below freezing in […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Prices a mixed bag across West

U.S. wheat futures down on week

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Wheat prices on the Canadian Prairies for the week ended Thursday were mixed as CWRS wheat was either side of unchanged and CPSR was down slightly. Meanwhile, durum made modest gains. Declines in the U.S. wheat complex put pressure on western Canadian cash prices, but those declines were countered by a weaker Canadian […] Read more


File photo of the Rainbow Bridge across the Niagara River between Ontario and New York. (Bloodua/iStock/Getty Images)

Large gap between StatCan, USDA canola estimates

USDA sticks closer to StatCan expectations on wheat

Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — There’s a significant difference in the amount of canola grown in Canada during 2022-23, in the estimate from Statistics Canada (StatCan) compared to that from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Earlier in December, StatCan’s survey-based production of principal field crops report pegged this year’s canola harvest at 18.17 million tonnes. That’s a […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley, wheat prices pull back

Truck shortage 'hasn't gotten any better'

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley and wheat are coming down on the Prairies, said Susanne Leclerc of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton — and a big part of that trend is the lack of demand for either commodity. “Buyers are fairly well covered. There seems to be a lack of desire for buyers to […] Read more