CNS Canada — Like most crops grown this year, Manitoba’s soybean yields were also highly variable in 2018. While early reports point to smaller production overall, lower-than-average yields won’t translate to higher prices, given prospects for a large U.S. crop.
Manitoba soybean yields are “anywhere from 20 to 50” bushels per acre, said Mark Jorgenson of Delmar Commodities. Crops were looking “exceptional” up until the end of July, he said, “but the tap just turned off and a lot of guys got nothing (for precipitation) in August.
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
“You got it, or you didn’t, and that’s how the yields are showing,” said Jorgenson, adding that even neighbouring fields were reporting different yields due to sporadic shower activity.
Average soybean yields in the province are typically in the high 30s to low 40s in bushels per acre, but Jorgenson expects the average to be in the lower 30s in 2018.
With a lower acreage base to start, Statistics Canada is currently predicting soybean production in the province to come in at 1.77 million tonnes, which would be down from the record 2.25 million tonnes grown the previous year but still above the five-year average.
While Manitoba soybean production may be down, prices will continue to be dictated by the U.S. “At the end of the day, we obviously can’t replace the loss of U.S. beans. We’re a much smaller acreage base,” said Jorgenson.
“There is uncertainty in the market with all of the tariffs,” he said, pointing to the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China weighing on soybean futures prices.
“China still needs to eat and they have a huge appetite for soybeans,” said Jorgenson. Canadian soybeans were seeing some additional demand due to the U.S./China dispute, he added, with good new-crop pricing opportunities available earlier in the year.
While Canadian prices usually follow the U.S. “every once in a while somebody needs to fill a train… and flat prices shoot up.
“I think there will be opportunities, and you just need to be patient,” he added.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
