Grain prices this week did not fare so well as the complex dealt with outside pressure from other commodity and equity markets, harvests, and good growing conditions. Most front-month contracts on the futures board dropped 2-5%. The decline started Monday with economic data out China showing its factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in... Read More
Category: Markets
Where were we just one year ago? The Canadian dollar sat at 92 cents U.S. and cattle prices were at all-time highs. Those price levels have since been passed, to everyone's surprise, but the dollar has taken an absolute beating in just a year's time. Anne Wasko, of Gateway Livestock, joins RealAgriculture's Lyndsey Smith for... Read More
Statistics Canada today released its estimates of principal field crop stocks to July 31, 2015, including a bearish supply estimate for the canola market (see table below). Not surprisingly, most major crop totals were down substantially year-over-year, as 2014 levels reflected the stock still in the pipeline from the 2013 bumper crop. Total stocks of... Read More
Grains were recently taken for a ride along with the rest of the world markets, mainly thanks to tanking equity markets in Asia. They’re calling August 24, 2015 Black Monday as markets in China crashed, and when North American markets opened up, they quickly followed. The main argument for the flash decline is lack of... Read More
It's been a rather down week on several fronts — from the global market meltdown, to frost happening not once but twice in areas of Alberta. To the good, harvest picked up steam in several areas of Western Canada, and Ontario's soybean crop is developing quickly, giving hope to RealAgriculture's agronomist Peter Johnson that winter... Read More
The closure of two packing plants in Ontario last year has forced producers to look for hook space at processors outside the province. The uncertainty in demand is hurting confidence in the industry, suggests Guelph-based livestock and meat market analyst Kevin Grier. At the start of 2014, Ontario’s federally-inspected slaughter capacity stood at around 95,000... Read More
As summer begins its last hurrah and ranchers anticipate the fall run, the underlying factors of supply and demand are still supporting cattle prices. But very large, global shifts in markets and economic stability are causing all sorts of fallout for grain and oil markets — how long before those macro trends pressure cattle prices?... Read More
The grains complex continues to deal with decent growing conditions, better than expected yields, and a tougher global markets environment. This week we saw the market volatility index spike to levels not seen since last year when Russia was invading Ukraine (translation: market participants are pulling dollars out and parking it in cash positions as... Read More
There will be less wheat and slightly less canola grown in Canada this year than what analysts were expecting, if the first production estimates from Statistics Canada are to be believed. Prior to the report's release on Friday morning, trade guesses for total wheat production ranged from 24.8 to 27.1 million metric tonnes. StatsCan pegged... Read More
A guest column by Frayne Olson, Crops Economist at North Dakota State University A farmer recently asked a very simple but extremely relevant question at a market outlook meeting: "Will I ever see high grain prices again in my lifetime?" The farmer asking this question started his farming career in the early 1980s and remembers... Read More