Jan. 8 — Outside markets were rather quiet but steady to up on the day.
The U.S. dollar index fell back 42-100ths of a cent today. Gold closed up $5.10 at $1,138.20, up $43 this week.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.23 cents to close at US96.93 cents today, up 1.29 cents this week.
The Dow Jones March contract closed up 21 points at 10,566, up 201 points this week.
In the energy sector crude oil closed up nine cents at US$82.75 per barrel, up $3.39 this week.
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Corn closed up five to 5.6 cents a bushel today, up 8.6c/bu this week.
Beans closed down 0.6-4.6 cents a bushel today, down 26.6 cents a bushel this week.
Wheat markets closed up nine to 12.4 cents a bushel today; Minneapolis March futures closed up 11.4 cents a bushel, up 30 cents this week.
Canola closed down $1.20-$6.50 per tonne today, down $5.80 per tonne this week.
Western barley closed down 90 cents per tonne at $156.30, down $3.40 per tonne this week.
Beans continue to struggle as early harvest reports out of Brazil show above-average yields which will no doubt increase anticipated production out of that country.
Corn and wheat showed positive gains as speculators continue to buy into those markets on hopes that harvest issues with corn, and reports that winter-seeded wheat acreage in the U.S. are down substantially, will continue to push these grains upward.
Canola is struggling with renewed farmer selling, very limited new export business, a large on-farm inventory, a higher Canadian dollar and beans futures under pressure.
With the recent changes in the bean markets, in particular the ever-improving South American and Brazilian crop conditions that are going to have a rather big impact on the U.S. futures, I can see a fundamental shift happening here that would suggest if you have canola left to sell, you may want to do so sooner than later.
Barley values continue to drop and with this break in the weather you can expect values to remain under pressure as dried distillers grains (DDGs) from the U.S. are still a very cheap substitute, and a higher dollar again this week doesn’t help at all.
The way things are looking it may be better to have cash in hand and move your barley now as opposed to hanging onto it in the bin and hoping for any kind of a substantial rally into spring. It just doesn’t look like holding barley is the thing to do right now.
That’s all for this week. — Brian
— Brian Wittal has spent over 27 years in the grain industry, including as an elevator manager and producer services representative for Alberta Wheat Pool, a regional sales manager for AgPro Grain and farm business representative for the Canadian Wheat Board, where he helped design some of the new pricing programs. He also operates his own company providing marketing and risk management advice for Prairie grain producers. Brian’s daily commentaries focus on how domestic and world market conditions affect you directly as grain producers.
Brian welcomes feedback and information on market conditions in your area, such as current offering prices, basis levels, trucking premiums and special crops contracts. Contact Brian today.
