With every bounce off of a new low in the cattle market, there's hope prices have finally bottomed out. October live cattle futures in the U.S. have recovered by $7-8 in the last week, after dropping to around the $100 mark in the first week of September. "Hopefully we can look back, and I know... Read More
Category: Markets
Tight profit margins are leading many farms to hang on to equipment longer before trading it in. The major manufacturers have also slowed down production significantly, coinciding with the drop in demand for new iron. And all of this means there's less late model machinery hitting the market. "It's getting really hard to find a... Read More
Grains pushed through the first full week of September with a mix of bearish and bullish headlines, but mostly of the latter as a weaker U.S. Dollar, wet weather, and decent export numbers being supportive. Corn was the shining star for the week, up 3.5% in Chicago, mainly supported by ethanol being up more than... Read More
Grains continued to be pressured by the Harvest 2016 season and continuous benign weather in the U.S. that are keeping crop conditions and yield projections at elevated levels. Estimates on the U.S. corn crop ranges between 170 and 175 bu/ac, suggesting around a 15-billion-bushel crop, while soybean yield estimates are sitting between 48.5 and 50.5... Read More
A frustrating summer has come to a head over the last few weeks, as already-weak cattle prices are on a streak lower. Cash prices in the U.S. have fallen to $110 per hundred weight, notes Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock. "That's the lowest they've been in five years, and that's five bucks off of last... Read More
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be raising the subject of Canadian canola imports during his trip to China this week, according to the federal agriculture minister. Exports to Canada's largest canola seed customer are facing an uncertain future, as China plans to implement tighter import restrictions on September 1st. The 1 percent dockage standard would... Read More
The grain market was filled with lots of pictures this week, thanks to scouts testing Twitter’s ag photo limit by uploading shots of corn cobs as the annual Pro Farmer crop tour ran from Monday to Thursday. The tour showed numbers that came in about 5 full bushels below the U.S.D.A.’s current estimate on the... Read More
Anti-trade messages from both U.S. presidential candidates are undoubtedly troubling for the future of the Canadian economy, especially in export-oriented sectors like agriculture. "That to me would be the number one concern when we look over the next six months — what happens in the U.S. election and what happens afterwards," said Douglas Porter, chief... Read More
Cattle markets will likely continue to trend lower, although at a slower rate than we saw for much of 2015 and early 2016, according to the senior analyst with Canfax. "We've been through such a massive adjustment here, I think the bulk of the pain is over," says Brian Perillat in this interview at the... Read More
Grains in the past week have started to improve a bit as concerns over quality and a lower U.S. Dollar are supporting more international demand. The wetter weather in the Canadian Prairies is widening out quality premiums, especially in lentils and a little less so in durum, but it’s becoming more apparent with every growing... Read More