As harvest approaches a lot of buyers have pulled and/or lowered their new and old crop pricing, which seems to be the case for all varieties of lentils. It is not unusual to see prices soften just before harvest and with crop conditions improving the last few weeks, buyers ease concern about yield loss. Combine this with slow overseas trade and you have a perfect storm for a quiet market. The positive news is that there are still some small opportunities to clean out the bin. The other good news is that prices in India and Turkey have slowly increased over the past crop year, which would suggest that they have more of a need for lentils that they are advertising. Large greens are showing the strongest bid out of all lentils at 21-22 cents delivered, followed by reds at 18 cents delivered and medium and small greens at 17 cents/ lb picked up.
Chickpea markets are very quiet this week and it is getting tougher to find a bid as new crop approaches. Chickpea crops around the world have suffered some yield loss this year, but do to exceptional crops last year, price increases have been limited. At this point there doesn’t seem to be much indication of an upward price improvement. We are starting to hear that there is an emerging disease situation in southern Saskatchewan. The affected area seems to be south of the #1 highway and east of Swift Current. According to Saskatchewan Pulse Growers most of the damage is a result of Ascochyta, some root rot as well as leaflet blight. For more information on what is happening to your chickpeas and what can be done to help your crop go to www.saskpulse.com and check under the news menu. The best pricing opportunities are being bid at 25 cents delivered to plant for new crop.
Mustard bids have not seen much action this past week. Currently we are seeing brown prices at 30 cents per pound for both old and new crop product. Yellow bids are at 35-36 cent range on both old and new crop and oriental is the lowest priced mustard at 23 range for old crop. Some positive news for new crop bids though, as buyer interest exists for up to 26-27 cent range on a full crop year contract. Crop reports of late are still showing mustard to be below average and experiencing various stages in the same field, so we are hoping to avoid early frost to hurt the later crop. Old crop carryover is heaviest in oriental as bids have been very weak, where yellow and brown are a little harder to find, inversely the seeded acres weighed much heavier to yellow and brown again as oriental bids did little to stir more seeding interest in 2019.
The flax market is flat this week. With the increase in acres, not only in Canada, but also in the US, prices will remain soft. This is, of course, unless the Black Sea crop is worse than we have projected. We may see some life to the flax market, but it will be much after harvest when we know how the crop preformed. As for right now, we are hearing reports of good flax crops across the prairies. Recent offers on brown flax have triggered at $14/bu, so make sure you are still posting those offers if you have some left in the bin. New crop is around $12.50/bu FOB farm, with an act of God. If you are wanting to sign up new crop with an AOG, we suggest you do it fast as we are starting to see the clause being removed as harvest inches closer.
It is the same old story with barley this week. Markets continue to fall as we get closer to harvest and buyers wait to see what this year’s crop produces. We are hearing that, in some areas, yields will be bumper, while others will experience below average yields due to poorly timed rain. Regardless, we continue to see a large number of acres in the ground and expect above average production this year. With the increase in barley across the province, feed buyers are relying less on corn markets to provide direction for barley. Wheat exports are also slow, and any off-spec wheat is moving into the feed market. This is also pressuring barley bids. New crop barley with an act of God is still floating around between $4.00-4.25/bu FOB farm depending on freight and movement period. Old crop barley for movement in August still trades between $4.30-4.60/bu FOB farm.
Soybean market conditions sound like a perpetual re-run, China/US trade talks and Trump tweets fuel recent volatility within a 50 cent/bu channel. China claims to make purchases of U.S. soybeans however the lack of new deals is weighing on prices despite concerns about acreage and yields. US soybeans continue to face lost acres and lower yields that could make for an interesting market. Local bids are in the range of $9.75-$10/bu picked up. Faba new crop buyers assessing actual seeded acres and international demand. New crop #2 faba bean bids continue to hover near $7.50-$8.00/bu delivered. Old crop dry bean bids have held reasonably firm with selling opportunities across a few local buyers.
Spot feed wheat bids continue to converge towards lower new crop values. The market is cautiously optimistic on abundant supplies based on the increase in seeded acres and a traditional grade distribution pattern. That said, reduced US corn seeded acres coupled with late maturity should offer some support for new crop feed values. Old crop feed wheat bids remain historically high near $5.25 FOB farm and new crop is in the range of $5.00/bu picked up. Milling wheat markets are also sliding towards harvest given the prospect of higher production both north and south of the border. Small premium offers pop up here and there for #1-13.5 in the $6.50 del’d range. They are usually fleeting, so unless you have targets in with buyers these opportunities are generally short lived and difficult to capitalize on.
Pea markets remain shaky this week with little demand for both old crop green and yellows. High supplies of yellow peas in the bin keep bids stagnant in the $5.50 – $6.25/bu range FOB farm pending location. Low supplies of green peas seem to have the market waiting for new crop rather than actively searching for old crop business. For those with supplies of greens left, offers – lately in the $10/bu range – seem to be the only way to get business done. New crop bids on all varieties of peas have been thin, with quoted values unable to buy product. Increased pea acres with widespread good to excellent farmer reports have the market relaxed and unconcerned about purchasing once harvest commences. Specialty pea markets continue to feel the heat as well with an estimated 48% increase in acres (mainly maple varieties).
Canola continues to faulter this week as futures take direction from soybeans, which lost almost 15 cents/bu. November finished its trading session $5/MT lower to finish at $443.50/MT. This translates to roughly $9.40/bu delivered to plant today in North West Sask. Canola markets still remain uneasy on political turmoil with our biggest purchaser, China. No big surprise there. With no major influence to swing a deal either way, look to see this market remain rangebound for the next bit, and likely continuing to follow the soybean market – unless we see some major changes in our relationship with China.
Oat markets remain the same this week as strong growing conditions continue to be reported. We are still seeing old crop bids delivered into Manitoba around the $4.10/bu mark for milling oats. We can always work that into an FOB farm bid in your area so give us a call for a price picked up in the yard. New crop pricing is still sitting around $3.40-$3.60/bu delivered into plant depending on the movement period you choose. As we get closer to the new crop coming off, these prices will need to converge so if you have some milling quality oats in the bin, it might be a good time to find a home for them. Feed bids are still strong with buyers bidding $2.75-$3.00/bu picked up on farm for heavy and dry oats with no shortage of buyers looking. Offers are likely a great play to try and push the bid a bit.
Canaryseed holds strong as of late, as old crop pricing touches the highs of the year this week. 25 cents/lb FOB farm has been trading this week in certain locations for August/September movement. New crop pricing isn’t far behind at 24 cents/lb FOB farm with movement in September-December. The big reason we’re seeing these prices bump up comes from lower crop ratings in main canaryseed growing areas of Saskatchewan. While it can be tough to say for sure what on farm stocks are, the general feel is that we’re looking at tighter supplies this year. This could potentially bring higher prices moving forward into the next crop year.
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