CNS Canada — Oat prices firmed this week in Saskatchewan as reports streamed in indicating yields were slightly better than anticipated.
Harvest in Saskatchewan is over three-quarters complete, although recent rains have delayed that progress somewhat. The province is the dominant growing area for Canadian oats.
Bids rose five cents to a range of $2.33 to $3.04 a bushel.
According to Scott Shiels, a procurement manager with Grain Millers Canada at Yorkton, Sask., the early-harvested oats were somewhat light and thin but those came from an area in south-central Saskatchewan that had virtually no rain.
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Since then, harvest has generally been better than expected, both in terms of quality and yields.
Test weights are also higher this season than they have been for the past couple of years.
This year, 1.66 million acres of oats were planted in the province, up from the 2016 figure of 1.38 million, according to Statistics Canada.
That could mean a larger carryout in oats this year, according to Shiels.
The 2016 carryout was smaller and of poor quality, so there are ideas prices could hang steady for most of the remaining year.
–– Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
