Pricing remains unchanged in the pea market as uncertainty of what will happen in the coming weeks looms overhead. Let’s talk about what we do know; reports suggest 2020 pea acreage will be up approximately 2% over last year, with this increase likely coming from green peas. We can assume this as both spot and new crop bids on other peas remain soft. We have new crop green peas trading at $8.75/bu delivered and yellows at $6.50/bu delivered. Maple peas, like last week, are still struggling to get footing in this market. As we wait for Chinese demand to firm back up, we will see the odd maple pea trade at $8-$8.50/bu FOB, with many buyers sticking to no bid. Old crop yellow peas are at $7/bu delivered and greens are $11/bu delivered.

Oat bids, both old and new crop, have experienced ample declines since December. Many buyers have new crop bids on hold with a general consensus of increased seeded acres in 2020. Old crop bids remain in the $3.60-$3.70/bu delivered range out to July. Those delivered bids go into Manitoba, so with freight, central Sask could be seeing under $3.00 picked up. There are still opportunities to move feed oats, but that market also remains fairly flat with prices indicated around $2.00/bu. If you are needing some new seed, we can source some.

Flax bids over the last couple of weeks have pulled back slightly with a lot of unknowns in the market.  #1 quality is in the $12.50-$13.00/bu FOB range, while you still might capture $14.00 for milling quality with movement pushed out into the summer months.  New crop prices are still hanging in there at $12.25-$12.50/bu picked up. There were some vessels headed to China that are now being cancelled which is why we have seen reservations from buyers on moving any prompt product. Covid-19 isn’t the only thing affecting the flax prices. There is still competition from the Black Sea region which has limited potential sales. The US demand has seen some improvements, but not enough to turn the market around.  Bottom line, flax prices are likely to remain sideways going into the 2020 crop year.

Chickpea markets see another slip this week as buyers either pull their bids or drop to levels that leave a grower wondering whether or not they should be putting in the acres. While news of India receiving heavy rains before harvest loom, keep in mind these events were in the Northern part of the province and may not have the desired effect on chickpeas one might hope for. Old Crop values range from $0.20-$0.23/lb FOB farm with freight sensitivity and new crop hovering in the same levels. Desi chickpeas are indicated at $0.22/lb but nothing solid for this market. Feed chickpeas range from $0.08/lb-$0.10/lb FOB depending on the downgrading factors. If acres do decrease it could mean a potential uptick later down the line but with such uncertain times, there is no way to even estimate a timeline.

We continue to see static pricing in the canary seed market with bids once again holding at 27-28c/lb picked up on farm. We have noticed some fluctuation on movement, now ranging from May – July with most buyers having been backed up due to rail blockades and now the obvious. Flipping forward to new crop pricing, we seem to be hovering in that 21c/lb range. Tight ending stocks and strong spot markets may push new crop acres up, but do we see more producers growing canary uncontracted heading into harvest? Yet to been seen, but we suspect this could be the case as the current production values don’t seem to be buying and likely aren’t what most are hoping for.

Stock markets have been crashing nearly every day with big losses reported all around the globe. Thus far, Ag commodity markets have pulled through this downturn relatively well, with wheat not an exception. Some support can be attributed to recent rain and hailstorms in India, reported to have damaged winter planted crops such as wheat in the northern plains, threatening yield and quality. Today, feed wheat values hover around that $5.00/bu mark FOB on the west side of the province. The closer you are to Lethbridge the better the price, usually due to a logistical advantage.  Milling durum has been trading between $7.75-$8/bu FOB farm in the southeast part of Saskatchewan. The CWRS milling wheat price in Saskatchewan for June/July has been trading between $6.20-$6.34 delivered with a minimum protein of 12.5%.

Since our report last week, May canola futures took a bit of a tumble falling $12/MT to $448/MT on Monday. Since then, we’ve seen a small bump back up and at time of writing on Wednesday the price has recovered to $456.70/MT. Expectations are for this instability to continue as we try to find a solid footing in the financial markets in this new, isolated world we’re all living in. Long term, there should be potential for the market to rebound upwards as these uncertain times pass by.

Markets responding with an agitated cadence to each global news release. As an example, soybean oil finds strength predicated on news that Malaysia was shuttering businesses. Then futures retraced once it was determined Malaysian palm oil plantations would be exempt to the general business closure. Soybean meal offered support to soybean futures from news of overseas feed purchases. Fundamentals remain unchanged; big South American soybean crop, U.S. inventories still heavy but hopeful and China hasn’t waded back into the market in a significant way. End of the day, soybean cash bids remain largely unchanged at $9.70 picked up on farm in select locations. Faba export demand on hold and feed bids still hanging on near $6 picked up. New crop dry bean production contracts are getting close to sold out…still a few acres available. Call your Rayglen merchant for more info.

Lentil markets are quieter this week with very little trades taking place. There has been some interest in #1/X2 large greens with buyers offering to purchase between the 25-26 cents delivered. Average quality #2 lentils are trading between 20-22 cents delivered.  Old crop small greens continue trading at 20 cents FOB farm for a #1, and 19 cents FOB farm for #2. New crop is also trading at the previously mentioned prices. Red lentils trading at 20-21 cents delivered. Other market news that came out this week is that India may see some quality and quantity issues, as untimely weather has hit certain areas as they head into harvest. The full extent of the damage will likely not be fully realized for a few more weeks as most of the lentil harvest still a couple weeks away from starting. If there are problems with the crop and the dollar remains low, we may see rally in reds lentils.

The feed barley market still remains fairly strong with bids catching $4/bu or better in areas to the west. As we move east, bids remain in the mid to high $3’s as freight costs to feedlot alley become prohibitive. The falling Loonie may help support the barley prices as corn becomes more expensive to bring up from the USA.  There has been a bit of grower interest to lock some feed pricing for the fall at north of $4/bu, but buyer interest is pretty limited at this time as most don’t want to be overexposed in the current environment and talk of increased acres has some expecting more barley to be available in the fall. Malting contracts seem to be hit or miss, but firm targets have had a little luck on new crop for those looking to hedge for fall.

Mustard markets are quiet this week with everything happening financially in the world. We have been booking some new crop mustard and seed as growers look for cheap oilseed options to grow. Some crop in bins has been booking also at decent levels. Yellow mustard remains at 38 cents for spot and new crop. Brown mustard is stuck at 27 cents FOB for spot and as high as 29 cents for new crop. Oriental spot sits at 25 cents for Forge and 24 to 25 cents for Cutlass. New crop is as high as 28 FOB for Forge or Vulcan and 26 cents now for Cutlass. We encourage growers to set targets to show buyers you are a serious seller. We still have open acres for an IP Brown mustard program at a premium to commercial markets. We have certified seed available of all types, and we are focused on a fair and affordable value delivered to your yard.

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.