Love was in the prairie air last weekend! Or at least it was a little past the eastern Saskatchewan border at a farm in friendly Manitoba.
The last time I participated in a Manitoba road trip, I was only five or six years old. In child-traveling-time, I remember feeling like we were in the car for 3 days. Or a week. It felt like forever anyhow! This time, however, the ten hour journey flew by, and with every grain elevator and canola field we passed, we knew we were one small town closer to Minitonas where my cousin Nichole was getting married.
“Who would of thought,” Uncle Jim said in his toast to the bride and groom, “Not too long ago, Nichole was telling us she would never marry a farmer – or a rigger… Now she’s marrying a farmer from Manitoba who’s also worked on the rigs in northern Alberta!”
As many of you already know, Michelle and I have been listening to our fair share of country music these days. As I write this, I’m reminded of the lyrics from Thomas Rhett’s hit song, Life Changes: “You never know what’s gonna happen. You make your plans and you hear God laughing. Life changes. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
This was certainly the case when prairie winds wreaked havoc before the wedding started. Love was in the air alright! So much so, a tent big enough to fit two school buses was picked-up and flipped over, almost in slow-motion, while nearly a hundred people did their best to avoid injury. Thankfully, Nichole and plenty of her friends are nurses, so the only minor injury was treated quickly, and the wedding carried on in fantastic fashion. And, thanks to all the wind, there weren’t any bugs! That’s a silver lining I can live with… Have you experienced the mosquitoes and black flies in Manitoba!!?
As I and approximately thirty other men carried the tent away, the lyrics in Thomas’ song could not have been louder. When it comes to mapping out our lives, the plans we make are only part of the equation. It’s how we react to the plans we don’t make that can put us off course on a gravel road detour. And I don’t think anybody knows this better than farmers!
Change. It often happens so slowly, we don’t even realize it’s taking place. One day, we’re five years old, sitting in the back of our parents’ car, crying into a pillow because we don’t want our vacation in Manitoba to end, and then, twenty-five years later, uncle Jim is holding back tears walking cousin Nichole down the aisle as we stand proudly behind our three beautiful kids and our smoking hot wife, Michelle, who looks amazing in her country-themed dress… Uhh… I guess that’s more so my specific example… But you get what I mean…
What’s going to happen between now and harvest? Will heat and drought steal your yield? Are hail stones going to attack your unsuspecting cash crops? … We sure hope not! But, you know, there’s no sense in worrying about things that might happen. You need to keep that energy intact for when the unplanned does occur!
In the meantime, rest up, go fishing, throw a horseshoe or two, and give us a call to chat about new crop grain markets. We’re seeing some historically high new crop barley pricing considering the increase in acres. Give us a call and we’ll chat about it!
And please come by for a visit on one of our social media accounts. Click one of the links below!
Market Report – by Nelson Neumann
Barley: Statistics Canada released their acreage report with barley acres being up 12.7% over last year. This didn’t terribly affect the price as feed barley has finally found a window with some level of stickiness. Seeing barley land into Picture Butte at $236-$239/MT. With $239 being a slight uptick. New crop pricing also returned to a similar level that it was at a month ago thanks to an increase in demand and news of Saudi Arabia buying $1.74 MMT.
Wheat: The wheat market has been waving a rally flag but is struggling to gain much ground. HRS Wheat has seen a small recovery since the beginning of July. For lower protein wheat, selling as feed continues to be a strong option as in most cases the price is better and eliminates the risk of additional protein discounts. Canadian wheat projections remain unchanged while estimates for the Ukraine, Australia and Russia have seen a decrease.
Oats: Canadian oat acres are projected to be down from 2017. Even that couldn’t stimulate the market and we are still seeing milling bids around $3.05-$3.10/bushel delivered. Feed oats pricing is still relatively strong and may be a good option if your oats are flirting with higher moisture.
Canola:The big story in the canola markets continues to be the trade scuffle between America and China. China has stated they will look elsewhere for imports and that may be to Canada’s favour. The canola market has been in the green lately, but overall is still quite down from where we were a month or two ago. Yield expectations are looking good for most of the prairies.
Peas: There is little to no update on green and yellow pea pricing. The end of June Stats Can acreage report lowered pea acres from 3.9 million to 3.6 million, a 8% decrease, and down 14% from 2017. Global trade war could possibly open up an opportunity for Canadian export, but markets tend to not respond well to uncertainty.
Feedlots are executing the old “just buy enough to get me to harvest” tactic as the old / new crop spread continues to shrink. This strategy seems to be working. Spot opportunities for barley and wheat are popping up like gophers in the back pasture and are better than current market levels, but not the high of the year. Right now, a spot opportunity isn’t a signal that the markets are rallying, it’s just a spot opportunity. Some sellers are capitalizing and others are holding tight waiting for more. Feedlots and resellers are interested in securing new crop barley as well. Right now September to December new crop bids are around $4.25/bu into the Edmonton area, and buyers are back up to $4.85/bu into the Lethbridge market. Larger tonnage offers seem to pull the highest premiums and earliest time frame. Buyers know that harvest is just weeks away, and regardless of exact yields the grain will start flowing their way.
Sellers take note: When cleaning out the last of your old crop this year, a good price and your dream price don’t need to be in alignment. Let us get that for you this winter! If you have limited grain left to market and are undersold on new crop, post it up on Agfinity.com and let us chase the market and get you the best opportunity. That pretty girl will never say yes if you never call her! (That’s a metaphor meaning, call us to market your grain!)
Let us know your thoughts and check out the pricing below!
“No matter who I talk to at Agfinity, you always take care of things. You guys are so great to work with!”
– James Taylor, Leslieville, AB
“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
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– Phillip & Glenda Collinge, Lloydminster, SK
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– Kurt Boese, Neilburg, SK
“For the past seven 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
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– Orest Hulowski, Perryvale, AB
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– Peter L .Gross, Standard, AB
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