Life may not be a perfect circle, but – a circle – it certainly is.
As humans, we prefer the consistency of pi, right down to the millionth decimal point. But the truth is, life is a constant journey of imperfect equations and calculations.
After fielding a few dozen calls about downgraded feed wheat yesterday afternoon, I left the Agfinity office and went straight to the Boston Pizza in Spruce Grove to catch the Major League eastern wild card baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles.
“Must have been nice,” says everyone who was refreshing the score on their smart phone from the confines of their combine yesterday.
It was nice. Thank you! … As you more than likely have heard, the Jays tied the game early on at two runs a piece and waited patiently, all the way to the bottom of the eleventh, before Edwin “Edwing” Encarnacion slammed a no-doubt, three-run homer, breathing life into another highly-desired Canadian baseball post-season!
One-hundred sixty-two games, all coming down to one giant win-or-lose moment! … Being on the losing side of a wild card game can be enough to make somebody pull their hair out! …All that time! All that effort! Wiped away in the blink of a pop fly!!
Well, I’m going to take a guess and say that’s how a lot of farmers feel right about now. Worked hard all summer just to wind-up in a wild card game at harvest. Then to make everything more “exciting“, there’s no seventh inning stretch and we’ve run into extended, sudden-death play.
It’s an emotional time! Even my friend, Jon, could barely hold it together last night, and he’s just a fan, cheering for his favorite sports team… Well, for Agfinity – farmers – are our team! …And we don’t mean that in a cheesy, fully-loaded Boston-Pizza-nachos kind of way.
We’re rooting for you guys! Cheering! Gasping! Feeling a little nauseous at times… And if we can be completely honest, this stressful post-season hasn’t been easy for us either. But we’re here for you.
And whether your crops are in scoring position or they’ve been doing nothing but striking out, we’d like you to think of us as a coach; or a crazy, no-beer-can-throwing fan; or that funny, fist-bumping, benched teammate who always is chewing on something gross, but knows a lot about certain topics.
…Time will tell if this crop’s circle ends with a celebration or a few extra insurance forms. But until then, you might as well keep swinging for the fences!
We’d love if we could watch you step up to the combine to stare down the “closing” crops on a big screen TV. And maybe while we even drank a few beers… But since broadcasting a live harvest currently isn’t a feature in most combines, we suppose chatting on the phone (with or without beer) will have to do.
Looking forward to talking again before, during, or after the next game!
Because Farming is Forever,
Jared Seitz
Speaking of completed circles! After the game, my friends and I thought nothing would be better than a celebratory victory lap on the recently completed Anthony Henday ring road around Edmonton.
They said it would take 45 minutes, but we are pleased to announce that we did it in just 42 minutes and 30 seconds!!
…And until somebody has proof that they’ve done it faster, we shall indisputably remain “Henday’s Heroes”! 🙂
Barley : The feed barley market is still under pressure and most feedlots are buying hand-to-mouth. The upside is that we can usually find quick movement if that’s what you’re needing. Buyers have little to no wiggle room on price but will shop around to ensure we are finding you the best opportunity. Seeing around a nickel carry per month through to December and continuing into the new year. Rain through central Alberta and Saskatchewan has made harvest slow and many producers are still working on getting the crop off.
Wheat: If you have good-quality, gradable wheat, you will likely start seeing higher prices this fall due to an excess of low quality. All of this downgraded wheat is sure to pressure the feed market even further. Alberta feeders have been pulling high vomi wheat (10 – 15 ppm) from Saskatchewan this fall. Know your vomi, ergot and fusarium levels as well as the weight and moisture. This will help us to better shop your wheat around.
Oats: Not much change in price for lower quality 2 and 3CW but high quality #2’s are bringing up to $3.05 delivered. Seeing slightly higher demand for both milling oats and feed oats. Get your oats tested or send us a sample so we know the quality and can market it accordingly. Central Alberta 2CW Delivered bids coming in at $2.60 -3.05/bu depending on quality.
Canola: Weather is a concern for unharvested canola crops and has brought small gains to the market. Crush plant bids approaching $10/bu delivered for Oct and above $10 for Nov-Dec.
Peas: Green peas bids much the same central and southern Alberta. $7.00-$7.50/bu delivered. If your greens are high bleached, we have a buyer who can take them up to 20% bleached at a reduced price. Call us for pricing. Yellow peas, on par or slightly under green peas prices. Many buyers full until the new year but we have a few homes available for quicker movement yellows.
Send us your samples!
Mail to: 3-5400 50 Street, Stony Plain, AB T7Z 1B7
The Buyer Brief – Joseph Billett
With more questions than answers, feeders are unsure and tentative moving forward. “Should I feed my crop or store it?”, “Should I be making mountains of feed grains at these lower prices?”, “How much high vomi off spec wheat should I add to my rations?”, “How many cattle should I buy in this current market?” …and the list goes on. For now, buyers are buying as near as possible, creating an inverse market. With harvest incomplete and wheat qualities unfavorable, pricing moving forward is uncertain, but for now remains bearish and flat. Buyers are still calling with opportunities, they are just quick and limited.
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Edwing’s no-doubt, three-run homer!!
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
“Other buyers call me, and I always tell them that the best service I get is from Agfinity, and that you guys are who I market my grain through.”
– James Thompson, Millet, AB
“Most of our marketing decisions are based off of your newsletter! We really appreciate you sending it out!”
– Phillip & Glenda Collinge, Lloydminster, SK
“I really like the personal touch in the newsletter! Thanks for sending that out!” – Jim Majeski, Camrose, AB
“I really enjoy working with you guys and the transparent service you provide!”
– Kurt Boese, Neilburg, SK
“For the past five years I’ve been dealing with the Agfinity group and what a fantastic group of people they are. From number 1 to feed grain and canola. All the buyers at Agfinity can Make it happen. Fast turn around times on every thing. Movement, payment, and the inbetween that all of us farmers don’t see or care about. Good job to the Agfinity crew and keep on buying our grain.”
– Drann Hogg, Huxley, AB
“Thanks for continuing to send out a newsletter. I read right through it every time, and look forward to crop price updates.”
– Orest Hulowski, Perryvale, AB
“Enjoy reading your newsletter and price updates keep them coming, good job.”
– Peter L .Gross, Standard, AB
Have a testimonial we can share?
Just email us and say something nice about what we do. 🙂
