The only change in pea markets this week is the gap between yellow and green pea bids. As yellow peas strengthen, greens continue to soften, with the price gap now virtually closed. Yellow peas are at $9.25 – $9.40/bu delivered plant in Northern SK, green peas are at $9.00 – 9.50/bu delivered plant in most locations and maple peas remain stable at $10.00/bu picked up in light trade. With yellow peas now taking the lead over greens in some cases, we can expect that acres will be increasing at these values. Currently, new crop yellow peas have been indicated at $7.50/bu delivered, however, let your merchant know your target price as we can post up a firm offer with a 10 bu/ac AOG. India’s pea prices are strengthening, and plantings continue to outpace last year, but it is too early to tell what their total acreages will look like. We do not expect any changes on their import restrictions, therefore, the strength in our yellow pea market will continue to rely on China’s buying. If you have not moved any yellow peas yet, we recommend taking some risk off the table at these historically high values.

Oats continue to be a solid marketing play as we have seen some pricing up in the $3.80/bu FOB farm range in Southeast Sask. These bids are for Jan./Feb. movement on #2 milling quality. The further you pull away from the Sask./Man. border, the more prices will soften, but don’t hesitate to reach out to your Rayglen merchant to see what bids look like on your farm. Also, we have expressed interest for min 40lb oats with max 14.5% moisture for prompt pickup destined for the feed market. Please call for pricing in your area as it ranges from $3.00 – $3.75/bu. Please be able to provide a picture, bushel weight, moisture, and number of bushels to firm up bid.

Feed wheat remains strong and trading between $6.00 to $6.50/bu picked up depending on location. For the most part, buyers are quoting delivery windows into the new year, but the odd opportunity to move product prompt does arise… albeit, values are usually on the lighter side.  The closer you are to the Southwest part of the province and into Alberta, the better the value will be in most cases. Milling wheat prices are not much better than feed, and bids roll in around $6.50 to $7.00/bu delivered based off #1 quality and 13.5% protein. There was some new crop durum wheat trading last week at $8.25/bu FOB farm in SE Sask with a range of October through December movement.  If you are looking for the most up to date pricing in your area, please call your Rayglen merchant.

The canary market has held up pretty well over the past few weeks with bids for movement in the new year (Jan. through March) still catching $0.32/lb picked up on farm. At this time there are a few sellers posting targets at $0.33 picked up, but thus far, we have not had any buyer interest in those levels. The new crop market has not materialized for canary as of yet, but suspect sellers are shooting for $0.30 and buyers would likely look at $0.25 so there is still some disconnect for locking in production. In years past buyers were often not too concerned with seeing a pre-shipping sample of canary as long as it was in decent condition and dry; now with the additional restriction to get product into Mexico it’s pretty pertinent for the buyer to see a pre-ship and assess what market your product fits into. So, it is very important to keep representative samples of your product available.

Chickpeas around the world are making news, as reports on Canadian exports are down compared to this same time last year. India is moving into their season of planting and they are maintaining a pace ahead of normal. This is not surprising as over and over again we hear of India becoming more autonomous. Another major player, Mexico, is amidst their second largest seeding of garbanzos in 8 years. All of these factors,  as well as what is in the bin in your own backyard as well as your neighbours should be considered when weighing timing of production marketing.  It is expected that once COVID-19 is more under control with vaccination distribution that the chickpea market will open up again. Given the global outlook of supply and the dynamic of how the supply/demand chain has changed; there is skepticism for huge swings from current values. There is a lot of hummus to go through before we can see bids of yesteryear.

It’s been a very strong week for canola futures markets from January out through July. January futures broke past the $600/MT mark, something we haven`t seen since 2013. At time of writing, January futures are sitting at $603/MT which is up from $583/MT at the same time last week. Much of the strength from the past week is coming from gains in vegetable oils across the board. March futures are trailing a bit behind at $595/MT. With that being said, we’re hearing reports across Saskatchewan that local basis levels for March are narrowing and may represent your best pricing option for the time being. Some may be starting to look towards new crop with pricing showing so much strength. November futures are currently at $521/MT, softening a few dollars from the past couple weeks.

Flax bids remain steady again this week with spot prices on brown sitting at $18.00-$18.25/bu FOB farm and shipped by March. We have seen some better values being bid for the summer month time frame (Jun/Jul), and we encourage you to call your merchant for pricing. New crop can still be captured at $14.00/bu picked up with act of God and in some cases higher. Inventories at Thunder Bay are expected to ship out before the Seaway starts to freeze up. On the West coast, inventories are starting to decline but more flax is still being shipped from elevators. Flax exports from Russia were up in October and although there is no clear indication of the size of their crop, exports suggest production is similar to the last couple of years. Kazakhstan flax exports are still experiencing some logistical hold ups. For now, flax prices remain firmly supported by Chinese and EU demand; keep in mind that once Kazakh flax finds its way into the market, prices may soften.

Soybean support has come from stronger domestic demand, yield concerns in South America and steady exports to China. Local soybean bids now hover around $12.50-$12.75/bu picked up depending on location. Fabas are largely a feed play right now due to other global exporters eating our lunch. Feed faba bids are near $7.00/bu FOB farm, location dependent. North American dry bean production has increased sharply year over year. Harvest delivery pressure is beginning to subside, and some early Mexico export demand has come to some of the specialty classes. New crop dry bean contracts are available at attractive price levels. Contact Rayglen to book your acres.

Lentils continue to be quiet this week with very little trade taking place and limited interest from both sellers and buyers. Oversea markets continue to slip as Australia crop remains on pace to produce their estimated 1MMT and Indian planting continues at record pace. Early thoughts from one buyer this week was that they would possibly look at $0.21-$0.22/lb with AOG on new crop reds, but nothing firm. If this trades it helps us find the bottom for the red market. Large green lentils are quiet but do not seem to have the same nervous under tones to them like the reds. The StatsCan number shows that there is a smaller supply of large and small greens so there is a possibility that these markets could strengthen as we move into spring. Spot bids remain similar to last week, red lentils are still trading between $0.24-$0.25/lb FOB farm, large greens at $0.32-$0.33/lb FOB farm and small greens $0.27-$0.28 most cases.

This week was an interesting one when it comes to new crop mustard.  Brown mustard new crop pricing has jumped with concerns about acres being planted. Spot Brown mustard now sits at $0.32/lb FOB for February to March pickup and as high as $0.33/lb for April to June.  Yellow is sitting at $0.40 cents FOB farm for February to March movement. Oriental Forge variety sits at $0.29 for Feb. to March movement, while Cutlass Oriental is now steady at $0.27 FOB for that same window.  New crop brown is seeing $0.34/lb contracts being offered for the September to July period. New crop yellow is sitting at $0.42/lb and oriental as high as $0.30/lb for the same time period.  Please call us to discuss all your new crop and seed options. We have all varieties of seed, either treated with 2 treatments, or un-treated and our prices include delivery to your yard.

Barley prices haven’t taken a major swing in either direction this week with FOB bids ranging from $4.25-$5.00/bu picked up depending on location and movement. New crop feed bids are also attractive and being indicated in the $4.00-$4.50/bu range pending location. Analysts are predicting an increase in barley acres considering the strong values. If you are putting some barley in the ground this year, consider locking some in. It can check the box for a profitable early cash flow and bin space crop. Other things to consider: if China and Australia find a truce, Canada’s domestic barley price could go down. Suspect new crop malt needs to be $0.75/lb over the feed market to justify locking in. Russia’s government announced this week that they would be implementing a barley export tax of US $30/tonne starting mid-February until the end of June. Locking in 50-75% of barley sales will take some risk off the table.

Rayglen Market Comments are for informational purposes only. Rayglen Commodities and its agents or employees shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of reliance on any of the contents contained within these products, whether such loss or damage arises from negligence or misrepresentation or any act or omission of its agents or employees.