Winter arrived all at once in Alberta this year. Well at least in my neck of the woods it sure seemed that way. I have photos of my kids running around on green grass in just a sweater, on October 30th (temperature was 17.5 degrees C) & then the next photos I have are from November 2nd (temperature was -2.4 degrees C), with a good 6 inches of snow on the ground & everybody is bundled up. So, in the span of 3 days, our beautiful, colorful, warm fall was transformed into our typical winter wonderland & the temperature dropped by 20 degrees. Most people had good weather for harvest, and we know it’s coming, so if the snowflakes can stay away until November 1st, we should count ourselves lucky, I guess!
Personally, I have mixed feelings about our winters. There is a part of me that is SO ready for winter; the part who has worked outside all summer & fall at gardening, cutting grass, random projects around our property, harvesting in the fall. That part of me is relived to have the snow & icy temperatures as an excuse to stay inside & and be a little lazy. I think winter kind of forces us to take a breath and relax a little. It’s a time where we can catch-up on shows, books and visits that we were too busy for in the warmer months; this is the part of I look forward to. Almost a little bit of a mental & physical re-set, to our usual energy & drive to get things done. However, after a couple months cooped up in the house, shoveling snow, plugging in your car, and putting at least 3 layers on every time you go outside – I am very ready for spring to arrive.
So, whether you love, hate or are indifferent to it, living in the Canadian Prairies, winter is a part of our lives for a good 5 months of the year. Even though there are numerous down-falls, our winters have their perks; so, take a second to appreciate this season! Appreciate the lull in your schedule (well maybe not so much if your kids play hockey), the fact that it is acceptable to have hot chocolate at any time of the day and catch up on some quality time with your favorite people. Stay warm everyone!
Because Farming is Forever
Danielle Barnes
Market Report – Declan Kummer
Good day to all! Here is your Agfinity market report. Feed barley prices has continued to struggle with corn being shipped to feedlot alley in Lethbridge. With these drops in barley prices, it has caused a lot of farmers to hold of selling. From my perspective prices will start to flatten out and wont rise much higher than the $435/mt price delivered to Lethbridge. Most feedlots will be covered for the next 3-4 months and with less barley buyers on the market and a lot of barley in the bins the outlook doesn’t look to promising.
Oat prices have been surprisingly quiet the last few weeks. There hasn’t been much movement either way with most of the Oats getting bought up by feedlots as they are paying up to a $3.90-4.60/bu. There seems to have been a very good Oats crop across Alberta and not enough of it has been sold, we may not see a big spike in prices as Markets Farm indicated only 30% of Oat production has been sold this year. Buyers are not going to have to look far to find themselves some Oats.
Wheat prices have also been struggling the last few weeks, Russia has been flooding the market with cheap Wheat and Canadian and US export sales have been way below average. Canola markets have been on the mend after weeks of several losses. Markets Farms indicated that “our canola market is still in the process of recovering from oversold conditions instilled by the mid-to-later November sell-off.”
Seller tip: If you are flexible and able to hold grain in the bins, forward pricing barley into the spring may be a good opportunity. The barley market is going to be a little quiet the next few months so contracting some for-spring movement might be a good choice. Spring prices delivered to Lethbridge are hovering around $440.00/mt.