…And I think you know it too. But it seems break-up catches us by surprise every year!!
It may only be the second day, but I’m not going to sugar coat it, this spring has the makings of a rural horror movie! The kind where Mother Nature, dressed up as Kathy Bates from Misery, is pretending to nurse you back to health after you drove your combine off a cliff… but secretly, she’s planning to club your ankles with a sledgehammer and leave you hobbled and incapacitated while you watch last year’s crop rot from your bedroom window…
Let us be clear, we’re not wishing Misery upon anyone, but if Kathy is still lurking in the daylight-saving shadows this spring, we want you to be ready for her.
Do you feel like you’ve been reaching out for a lifeline, but nobody has come to your rescue yet? …Crop insurance has promised to email you their most up-to-date PDF. A full step-by-step process on how to obtain full coverage for the “hobbling” you received during the 2016 harvest.
But in the meantime, what can Agfinity do to help?
Well, one thing we can’t help with is what settings to run your combine at if/when things get muddy. I can barely figure out what temperature to set my vehicle to in April. Some mornings I’ll have the heat on full blast, and by my drive home, I’ll have the air conditioner cranked, so I would imagine it’s going to be a similar game of “try-and-see“.
What we can do, however, is give you a solid strategy to walk/limp out of this mess.
Let’s quickly go through a couple scenarios:
Grain is all sold, minus spring thrashed grain:
If you’ve marketed all your grain, kudos to you. You get to focus on just harvesting and/or seeding this spring!
If you’re able to get the crop off in good time, and have time to take samples and market it appropriately, then do just that! …But if you’re unable to get the combine rolling till the end of April or beginning of May, you’re most likely going to get a better return by ensuring next year’s crop is put in on time. And if that becomes your circumstance, you’re probably going to have to take what you can get for the spring thrashed grain (if anything) come June-July. Yes, it’s tragic, but sometimes you must let something die for something new to be born. Take lab rats and advances in medicine for example…
We’re expecting more seller competition once seeding and spraying have wrapped up, so if you can get sample information to us right away, we will get to work marketing it for you!! An informed broker is a smart broker after all. And at Agfinity, we definitely prefer being smart brokers.
Lots of grain to sell:
So, your bins are full, you want to kick something, but the Kathy-Bates-crop-year ruined your good kicking leg…? Well, you’re not the only one.
If you can load during break-up and road ban season, posting an April-May target will serve you well. As buyers become more focused on grain that can load, you may be able to recover a bit of cash.
And if you’re affected by soft, muddy yards and/or road bans, we’ve been filling buyer interest on fall thrashed grain moving now through August. Whether the quality is a million times better or not, buyers want to order in grain with specs they can count on, and as such, fall thrashed grain will be trading at a premium for the foreseeable future.
***
Well! We hope this information helps you further develop your spring feed grain marketing plan! Whether it’s on the actual trade, or through information in our newsletter, on Facebook or Twitter, we want to add our two cents to your operation in any way we can!
Joseph and I will be visiting buyers in BC for the remainder of this week, so please email Lisa@Agfinity.com or Tracy@Agfinity.com for pricing, or call the office at 1-888-969-5552.
Good luck in the weeks ahead!! Whether you’re pulling crop off, or putting seed in, we hope to catch you outside this spring!
Call, email or tweet us for more Dr-Phil-style grain brokering advice!
A producer from High River talking to Tracy on his oats:
“The oats were weighed between 43.5-45 lbs/bushel at harvest. I don’t think they’ve lost any weight… I know I haven’t.” 😀
Barley : A little bit of life was breathed into the barley market last week with a few buyers coming to the table looking for a few quick movement loads, as well as securing good quality barley into May-June. Prices came up by about 5 – 10 cents per bushel. Delivered Lethbridge bids now heard at $161/mt – $162/mt for May-June. Homes are available for spot loads for March – FH April but not necessarily at a premium. It is possible that this is the spring rally we’ve been waiting for! Call us and we’ll get working on an offer for you.
Wheat: Elevator bids have been slipping on gradable wheat for March – June delivery and are lower for new crop CPS as well. Good pricing opportunities, however, are still available for new crop HRS – close to $7/bu delivered for winter 2018. Feed wheat demand is still there but many buyers looking for May-June delivery. Quick movement opportunities do come available and we can search out the best option for you.
Oats: Milling oat bids are lower for March-April, but have about 5-10 cent per bushel carry into May-June. 3CW oat pricing slightly lower as well. Movement available for March-April. We have homes for feed oats and the price will vary depending on location and need from the buyer. Call us and we can shop around for you.
Canola: Canola traded about a nickel higher yesterday with April-June crush plant bids back over $11/bu again. New crop bids ranging from $10.30-10.60/bu delivered. Australia has achieved an all time high for canola yields for the 2016-17 crop due to excellent growing conditions this year. Though our domestic demand is high, we’ll need to keep an eye on the futures, as basis levels can only stretch so far.
Peas: Demand and price remains lower now for both greens and yellows. There are a few more options for homes for yellows over greens and I’m seeing yellows at a premium of about 25 cents per bushel over greens now with some buyers. Feed pea pricing has come off about 10-20 cents per bushel with lower demand recently. Many buyers got filled up early January. Prices still holding around $5.90-6.00/bu FOB with higher targets still under consideration.
Mail to: 3-5400 50 Street, Stony Plain, AB T7Z 1B7
Don’t let Kathy hit you with her Harvest Hammer again!
The Buyer Brief – by Joseph Billett
Feedlots and Mills are buying as they need to for the last half April -May. Buyers and sellers are not connecting for as little as $0.03/bu, with buyers feeling Bearish and sellers struggling with how low the price is. No one has clear direction of where the markets are going within the next 2 weeks, but more than likely it will be a flat market. Let me know your thoughts you can reach me on Twitter @JosephBillett .
Canola: Bids have softened as of late. What price should you be targeting? Give me a call to discuss, or email Jared@Agfinity.com with your legal land description and I’ll get you a price!
Feed Barley – March: $2.60-2.65/ bushel *Sellers without roadbans who can load on short notice may still see $2.70-2.75 picked-up. Call to place a target!
April-May-June: $2.70-2.80/ bushel
Feed Wheat – March-April: $4.10-4.15/ bushel
May-June: $4.15-4.20/ bushel
*Call or email for #1/2 HRS / CPS.
2CW Oats (Milling Grade) – March: $2.55/ bushel
April: $2.65/ bushel
May: $2.75/ bushel
June: $2.55/ bushel
July: $2.75/ bushel
August: $2.75/ bushel
3CW Oats – April-May-June: $2.40-2.55/ bushel
Feed Oats – March-April: $1.55-2.00/ bushel.
#2 Green Peas – April-May:
Max 3% bleach: $7.55-7.60/ bushel
*Call or email on higher bleach.
#2 Yellow Peas – March: $8.25/ bushel
April-May: $8.30/ bushel
June: $8.10/ bushel
NEW CROP: $7.50/ bushel
Feed Peas- March-April: $6.25-6.35/ bushel
Feed Fabas – March-April: $5.50-5.60/ bushel
Canola: Bids have softened as of late. What price should you be targeting? Give me a call to discuss, or email Jared@Agfinity.com with your legal land description and I’ll get you a price!
Canola: Bids have softened as of late. What price should you be targeting? Give me a call to discuss, or email Jared@Agfinity.com with your legal land description and I’ll get you a price!
#1/2 CPSR WHEAT – March-May: Up to $4.75-4.85 picked-up
NEW CROP: Targets triggering at $5.25-5.30 picked-up.
Call/email for #1/#2 HRS.
2CW Oats (Milling Grade) – March: $2.55/ bushel
April: $2.65/ bushel
May: $2.75/ bushel
June: $2.55/ bushel
July: $2.75/ bushel
August: $2.75/ bushel
3CW Oats – April-May-June: $2.40-2.55/ bushel
Feed Oats – March-April: $1.55-2.00/ bushel.
#2 Green Peas – April-May:
Max 3% bleach: $7.55-7.60/ bushel
*Call or email on higher bleach.
#2 Yellow Peas – March: $8.25-8.35/ bushel
April-May: $8.30-8.40/ bushel
June: $8.10-8.20/ bushel
NEW CROP: $7.50-7.60/ bushel
Feed Peas – March-April: $6.30-6.40/ bushel
Feed Fabas – March-April: $5.75-5.90/ bushel
Canola: Bids have softened as of late. What price should you be targeting? Give me a call to discuss, or email Jared@Agfinity.com with your legal land description and I’ll get you a price!
Canola: Bids have softened as of late. What price should you be targeting? Give Jared@Agfinity.com a call to discuss, or email me with your legal land description and I’ll get you a price!
Feed Peas – March-April: $6.25-6.35/bu DLVD or $6.0.-6.13
Feed Fabas – March-April: $6.00-6.10 DLVD or $5.78-5.88
Canola: *Email Tracy@Agfinity.comwith your legal land description for a bid.
Call today!!!
1-888-969-5552
*If you’re trying to reach us from outside of Canada this winter, our toll-free number unfortunately will not work, so please reach us at 780-968-1676. 😀
“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. 🙂
