It has been a real struggle for meat packers to hold or build slaughter capacity during the COVID-19 outbreak. Not too long ago analysts thought slaughter levels would not increase to 80% of capacity until mid summer but in both Canada and the U.S., the weekly slaughter is climbing back faster than first thought. The... Read More
Category: Markets
Which crop has the biggest price upside? Where will canola acres land? Do I really need to know my cost of production? Brian Voth, transplanted Manitoban and president of IntelliFarm Inc., is our latest RealAg LIVE! guest, and he fielded all sorts of questions. (Check out the full video/discussion below) Let's start with canola! And... Read More
Grain markets were mixed this week as we got the first look at how the USDA is thinking about the 2020/21 crop year in terms of supply and demand, just as demand peeks its head out from underneath the COVID-19 covers. Through the middle of May, soybean and corn prices were helped by more optimism... Read More
In unpacking the United States Department of Agriculture’s perspective on the upcoming marketing year for U.S. stocks, it looks like nothing more than a goal post at the point in the marketing year with demand just as ambiguous. The USDA's latest WASDE report pegs new crop corn ending stocks at 3.318 billion which was below... Read More
Just how important is the European Union canola (rapeseed) market? According to LeftField Commodity Research, the region had more than doubled its year-over-year canola imports up to mid-March of this year, offsetting nearly half of the Canadian tonnage that would have been sold to China. That's a significant increase, says Jonathan Driedger with LeftField, driven... Read More
Grain markets were mixed over the first full week of trading as investor jockeyed positions on frost fears, a fast planting pace, and newly-minted trade tensions between the U.S. and China. For the most part though, freezing temperatures were forecasted to hit everything north of central Illinois and that propelled the market into positive territory... Read More
Since the fall of 2019, beef packer profits have received major attention by ranchers and feedyards. Much of the discussion started after the packing plant fire in Kansas, but has exploded recently due to the results of the COVID-19 pandemic. Packers have struggled to stay online due to COVID-19 cases related to the plant, and... Read More
StatsCan has released its delayed 2020 acreage prediction for field crops in Canada. The report was to be released two weeks ago and has a limited survey response compared to more normal circumstances, due to COVID-19. StatsCan stated, "At this time, intended seeded area estimates cannot reflect the full impact on the crop sector as... Read More
As seeding begins in Western Canada, where are we at with canola acres, pulse prices, and the feed wheat outlook? In this week's LIVE! Q&A, Brennan Turner, founder of Farmlead and the Combyne marketplace, joins Shaun Haney to discuss markets, take questions, and compare (a lack of) haircuts. From acres moving out of canola, to... Read More
Grain markets started the month of May on a downer as the combination of good weather and renewed trade fears between the U.S. and China stoked increased pessimism in the complex. Despite the latter sentiment, China did buy a lot of U.S. soybeans this week, which helped the oilseed close in the green; this helped... Read More