Update — June 6, 2016 — After failing twice to approve a new license for glyphosate, EU member states did not support a limited 12-18 month extension of the herbicide's current license on Monday. The inability of European Union member countries to come to an agreement over glyphosate could have implications for agriculture on this... Read More
Category: Markets
The grains complex pushed up to new highs this week due to two factors: money flow and South America. Here in North America, the percentage of fields planted is well ahead of its 5-year average. This week, soybeans came within a sliver of touching $11/bushel, wheat was pushed up due to quality concerns in the... Read More
Challenging times in the machinery market continue, as tractor sales in Canada slump. According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers' April data, year-to-date tractor sales in Canada are down 18.6 percent from last year. 4-wheel-drive sales are down 22.1 percent, while 2-wheel-drive sales are down 18.4 percent. Combine sales in Canada are bucking the trend,... Read More
Through the third week of May there has been much discussion around last week’s WASDE report from the USDA, as well as weather affecting planting. Oilseeds continued to make the most moves this week, as led by soymeal (up almost 9% for the week and now +46% since the start of 2016). Soybeans, while up... Read More
Earlier this week, Brian Perillat, senior analyst with Canfax, joined Shaun Haney to talk about the May 1 cattle report. The report, published Sunday, showed on-feed numbers in Alberta and Saskatchewan up 8%. What caused the bump? "As Brian alluded in that last interview, the cattle that didn't go south — the feeder cattle last... Read More
The Canadian dollar could be settling in for some quieter time after a wild ride over the last year. In May 2015, the loonie traded at over 83 cents US. It then went for a slide, bottoming out in mid-January at around 68 cents before rallying aggressively, touching 80 cents in early May. The dollar... Read More
Coming off record global production last year, world wheat supplies are massive. And yet, growing year-over-year ending stocks have not translated into a major decline in cash wheat bids for Canadian farmers. That's mainly due to two related factors: the weak Canadian dollar and tightening Canadian supplies — a function of the weak dollar driving... Read More
The number of cattle on feed in Canada is continuing to grow, according to the May report from CanFax. Part of the reason numbers are climbing, senior analyst Brian Perillat explains, is more heifers are going into feedlots. "We always gauge that as an appetite for expansion and unfortunately it still looks like quite a... Read More
The grains markets got a surprising World Agricultural Supply and Demands Estimate (WASDE) report on Tuesday, as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised demand for U.S. corn and soybeans, sending the markets skyward! Oilseeds got the best of the bullish rush, with soybeans going limit-up, followed closely by canola, which touched last summer's... Read More
Canola supplies will likely be tight leading up to harvest this fall, and could be even tighter in 2017 based on StatsCan estimates, average yields and demand trends. "The market is definitely telling us supplies are not going to be as abundant as what we've had over the last few years, and I would say... Read More