Pea markets push through the first month of 2023 without much swing up or down. Old crop yellow peas are still trading around $12.00/bu FOB farm for the most part, with sporadic bids popping up closer $12.50/bu from time to time. Green peas remain virtually unchanged as well, sitting around $13.00 – $13.50/bu FOB farm for #2 quality. Interest remains for higher bleached product, so give us a call for accurate bids in your area. Maple peas are currently boasting quite a spread in value with indications from $17.00 – $18.50/bu delivered plant all depending on area, timeframe of delivery, and variety. Switching over to new crop, we had luck trading yellow peas in Southeast SK at the $12.00/bu range with an act of God last week, but as we expected, those acres did not take long to fill. For now, the program is full, but we are working to try and secure more acres. Central and western Sask show values closer to $10.00/bu FOB w/ AOG which hasn’t sparked any seller interest. Green peas are currently indicated at a $12.00/bu, but again, seller uptake has been slow. Growers with a sales target in mind looking to secure new or old crop contracts are encouraged to use our offer system!

Canary prices are down from where they were a week ago with old crop at 37 cents/lb delivered and new crop quoted at 35 cents/lb delivered. Canary has had routine export business and prices are coming to a balance. Unless canary acres are lost to other crop options available in 2023, supplies could get heavy. If you are growing canary, then getting the first 10bu/acre on the books at these values pencils out well. Looking at the broader picture: millet prices in the US were stronger a couple months back, but have settled since settled and Argentine exports are expected to be modest for the rest of the year, which sets the stage for a potentially softer tone in canary markets.

Flax markets are anything but stable at this point, with the available buyer pool and bids being hit and miss day to day. With slow export pace this year, the upcoming StatsCan report is likely going to show a large number of stocks still left to be moved. The majority of flax shipments from Canada are destined for the US, with China still predominantly purchasing from the Black Sea region. Both China and Europe are set to have enough flax supplies coming from Kazakhstan for the rest of 2022/23 and this doesn’t include flax inventories from Russia. Canadian flax prices are still a premium compared to these overseas markets, so we may see Canadian values move lower yet, with the assumed based case scenario that the market will remain stale to flat.

The recent uptrend in soybean futures is based on continued heat stress concerns in Argentina and hopeful Chinese demand following their New Year. USDA is set to release soy crush stats today and if crush volumes are reported lighter than expected, it could be a wet blanket for soy futures. Local market is in the range of $17.00-$17.50/bu FOB farm. Overall North American dry bean production is up year over year with exceptions existing in specific classes of dry beans. Exports have lagged and inventories are thus a bit heavier. Production concerns in key dry bean producing countries may provide an opportunity to export and thus reduce current inventory. New crop dry bean contracts are available with price points ranging from 46¢/lb on larger more common classes to 70¢/lb on specific specialty classes. Aussie new crop faba exports lag last year’s pace, but is in line with historical pace. Feed quality fabas continue to be supported by pet food values. Local bids with export quality #2 faba bids being in the range of $13.50-$14.00/bu FOB farm and feed quality values are near $10.00-$10.50/bu FOB farm location dependent.

Spot barley trading was strong this past week, with the majority of contracts traded to the feed market. Prices have stayed relatively stable, but we did see some downward pressure as corn trains continue to show up in feedlot alley. We are being quoted $7.50-7.75/bu FOB farm on old crop feed barley for April-June shipping, but are consistently seeing values closer to the $8.00/bu mark. For those with the ability to deliver to feedlot alley, bids are quoted at $9.36/bu for March, and $9.47/bu April-June delivered feedlot. New crop bids from feed buyers are in the $6.25-6.50/bu range for deferred delivery contracts. These new crop bids cover a large area in Sask, including the SE corner, so reach out if you are looking for information on new crop planning. Looking at malt, we see Alberta bids in the $8.60/bu del Feb-Mar range, adding $0.10 if you push out to April-May. Sask malt bids sit lower at $8.30-8.40/bu, but have FOB movement options between Feb-May, while Manitoba bids vary on variety but sit at $8.75 for Synergy and 9.30/bu for Copeland. New crop malt contracts are starting to be released, with AOG production contracts and DDC’s available. Lastly, a note to keep in mind – the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre provides a recommended list for malting varieties for the 2023-24 season. The list provides an indication for selection and marketing potential, so don’t hesitate to call your merchant to discuss what varieties would be best for planting this year.

Slippery slope with chickpeas this week. India is gearing up for a chickpea harvest and their market values have seen a bit of a climb up from a valley. Sentiment is that it will not be another peak but more of a plateau, and will not have a trickle-down effect to global markets. Argentina has been growing their exports (7-8mm) over the last 2 years, but they are still falling short compared to an average crop year with typical production. A world food tender that was awarded some time back has been halted and Canadian chickpeas are sitting on farm waiting for movement. Seems this has put a pause on domestic purchasing and buyers are standoffish for booking new crop outside of freight circles close to facilities. What felt like a good start for the chickpea market 2 weeks ago has turned into another slumber. Old crop values for #2 Large Kabuli are quoted at $0.53-0.54/lb FOB farm and new crop with an AOG is $0.45/lb FOB farm. That being said, the bid sheet is not updated by the hour, so depending on the day, we have experienced a “no bid” situation. Now more than ever, offers come into play if selling chickpeas is your objective.

Lentil markets continue to soften this week with reds holding up a bit better than green lentils. It is predicted that reds will remain soft heading into spring as there are cheaper options available from other world markets. Green lentils are taking the biggest hit with values slipping due to lack of demand and likely the spread in value compared to reds being perceived as too large. Perception is that green lentil supply is tighter than the reds, therefore, the market may gain some strength when buyers need to fill their next sales. StatsCan will be releasing the December 31 stock estimates and it will be interesting to see if or how the markets react. On new crop, buyers are slowly starting to get some coverage on green and specialty lentils, while reds remain largely untraded. New crop pricing for green lentils is very attractive at 40-42 cents on large greens, 40 cents on small greens, and 60 cents on French greens.  These are great starting points at historical highs for small and French green lentils. Large green new crop values were slightly higher last year, but those numbers didn’t come out until there were drought issues in some parts of the province. With numbers at these levels, and still a 14-16 cent positive spread between large greens and reds, we suspect that some red lentil acres will be switched into large greens.

Overall, wheat markets have been weaker the past couple weeks with wheat and durum both taking a hit. The big news this week is mostly related to durum as a few big recent tenders have shown the durum market to be more of a buyer’s market at this point, suggesting the world stocks may be a bit larger than previously thought. Wheat prices (#1 CWRS) are still showing bids in the mid-$11/bu range ($11.40 to $11.70/bu depending on timeline) for a few areas of the province and fall pricing about a buck less delivered to the elevator. Feed prices of late hover around the $10/bu mark, plus or minus, depending on farm locations and the freight costs associated with the area.

Canola bleeds red this morning, down to under $825/MT for March at time of writing. Definitely up from the previous week when we were sitting sub $800/MT as speculators were adding on their net short position from the previous week. With a large soy crop on the loom in Brazil, could the next month be the high range trade zone for penciling in the last bit of canola on the farm? With a very large soy crop looking to hit the market, what props canola up? There is still a swing in pricing, west vs east Sask with bid spreads favouring the west by around a $1/bu more. New crop bids continue to hold their own with $17.50-$17.75/bu showing for early fall delivery.

New and old crop mustards are feeling some downward pressure this week. We are seeing some slippage in spot pricing for the first time in a long while. These values move quickly, so it is important to contact us for up-to-date bids as pricing can swing a couple of cents very quickly. Spot values today are quoted around $1.18/lb for yellow, $1.17/lb for brown, and $1.20/lb for oriental. New crop contracts are sitting at $0.76/lb for yellow, $0.68/lb for brown, and $0.74/lb for oriental. We still think acres will be up considerably compared to last year, so it will boil down to mother nature as to where pricing goes over the longer term. Call us for new crop movement options as quick and deferred shipping windows are available. We have been seeing some varieties of mustard seed sell out this week, so we suggest you call sooner than later if you have not secured your seed; all sales include delivery to your yard.

Nothing new has come out of the oats market this week as the large supply and aggressive selling from earlier in the crop year continues to limit marketing options today. As we stated last week, there could be some openings a bit later in the year once the buyers have a better understanding of what has been delivered, but for now they are content to sit on the sidelines and bring in what they’ve bought. FOB farm feed bids that we have been able to find are just under the $4/bu mark. New crop bids are also weakening and can be found around $4/bu with movement into spring of 2024. Be sure to let your merchant know what you have in the bin so we can move quick when bids pop up.

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.