File photo of a durum wheat field in Idaho. (Craig Morris photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Late North American durum faces quality downgrades

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Cool and wet conditions delaying harvest operations across North America’s durum-growing regions are cutting into the quality of the crop in both the U.S. and Canada, with widening price spreads likely going forward. “It’s been a challenging harvest,” said Erica Olson, marketing specialist with the North Dakota Wheat Commission. “We did have some […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Funds hold steady in canola

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Fund traders in the U.S. were busy covering short positions and putting on fresh longs in the soybean and corn markets during the week ended Oct. 1. Meanwhile, the net fund short position in canola held relatively steady, according to the latest commitment of traders (CoT) report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading […] Read more

ICE Futures November 2019 canola, with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Upside limited for canola’s snow boost

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — An unwelcomed early winter storm sent ICE Futures canola contracts higher during the week ended Wednesday, but it will take outside support to sustain a rally, according to industry participants. Snow in Alberta and Saskatchewan and cool and wet conditions in Manitoba slowed harvest operations during the week, with about 60 per cent […] Read more


(JohnnyMad/Getty Images)

Late Canadian mustard crop facing quality downgrades

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — An early blast of snow and cold across the Prairies has delayed harvest operations for a mustard crop already running behind normal, with quality downgrades expected for any mustard still in the field. “It has to be absolutely flattened,” said mustard buyer Walter Dyck of Olds Products at Lethbridge on the effect of […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Funds cover some shorts in grains, oilseeds

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The net fund short position in canola was reduced slightly during the week ended Tuesday, according to the latest commitment of traders (CoT) report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Speculators also bought back some of their bearish bets in soybeans and corn, the CoT report noted. The net managed money […] Read more


Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. in early August 2017. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley’s slide slows as harvest drags

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The slide in western Canadian feed grain prices over the past few months shows signs of slowing, as concerns over harvest delays supplant earlier concerns over large crops and quality downgrades. “The weather over the next week or so doesn’t look that great,” Allen Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge said Thursday. […] Read more

Spring wheat futures rally on North American weather woes

Spring wheat futures rally on North American weather woes

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Weather-related quality issues with North American spring wheat crops saw Minneapolis spring wheat futures rally sharply over the past three weeks, with more room to the upside as concerns mount over the state of the crop. The December contract hit a multi-year low of $4.865 per bushel at the beginning of September, but […] Read more


(Piyaset/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Rains delay large Manitoba bean harvest

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Manitoba farmers seeded their largest dry edible bean crop in more than a decade this spring, but adverse conditions are causing delays getting it off the fields. “Last week we had some substantial moisture in the Red River Valley,” pulse specialist Dennis Lange of Manitoba Agriculture said, noting the system brought up to […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC raises 2019-20 canola, wheat ending stocks

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian ending stocks of canola and wheat will be larger than earlier thought, according to updated supply/demand tables Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada released late Friday. AAFC raised its canola ending stocks estimate for 2019-20 to a record 4.5 million tonnes, up from the August estimate of 3.775 million and the upwardly-revised 2018-19 level […] Read more