Flax prices have stabilized for the week and although there is still the odd opportunity to capture $18.00/bu picked up on farm for brown flax, many buyers have reverted to $18.00/bu delivered. New crop brown flax is hit and miss at $14.00/bu picked up with an act of God this week and we suggest growers use firm targets to try and secure a contract. Spot yellow flax values have backed off to the $20.00/bu FOB range, while new crop bids remain pretty slow. If reports that the Black Sea Region supplies are bottled necked due to logistics, then we could see some downside on flax pricing once those issues are sorted. Under Kazakh law, sellers are able to declare non delivery of their product and just pay the interest charges.  As the market rallies there, sellers are taking that route. With smaller Canadian supplies, we could also run into demand rationing from buyers if prices continue at these levels.

Mustard is basically at the same levels it has been for a while and perhaps as time grinds on, prices will start to edge up slightly. It feels as if it should move up with the reduced acres, but time will tell as offshore shipping remains fairly stagnant as reported by buyers. Bids today are steady sitting at $0.40/lb FOB farm for yellow with a delivery window of Dec./Jan.  Brown sits at $0.31/lb FOB for Jan./Feb. pickup and Oriental Forge sits at $0.28/lb for Jan./Feb. movement. Cutlass Oriental variety remains discounted at $0.26/lb for the same new year shipping. It may be time to look at new crop mustard. New crop contracts and seed have started to trade, please call your merchant for the latest in prices.

The pea market had a bit of excitement this week when greens jumped to $11.00/bu delivered for a short one-day rally but have since softened back down to $10.50/bu delivered. Yellow peas had a few options at $8.75 – 9.00/bu delivered, also showing a bit of life. Maple peas remain stable at $10.00 – $10.50/bu picked up. Reports suggest the bulk of our pea exports are destined for China with much smaller quantities being shipped to Bangladesh and Cuba. Although it is still early, India’s planting for the 2020/2021 pea crop is reported to be 11% ahead of the 5-year average. New crop values have yet to surface for the 2021/2022 marketing year, but if you have a target price in mind let your merchant know.

Canaryseed markets remain unchanged this week with bids ranging in the $0.30-$0.31/lb range FOB farm, pending location and delivery window. For now, it seems the highs of $0.32/lb are no longer attainable and demand has slowed slightly, but grower targets are always an option to try and catch those values. News around this commodity remains scarce and seemingly underreported, so for now, we don’t have too much to say other than values are in the high end of trading ranges compared to only a few short months ago; hedging the downside risk on some of your product is likely not the worst play right now.

Chickpea markets are showing some activity with a little bit of trade this week. The latter part of last week had buzz for #2 or better Kabuli’s with a $0.33/lb FOB farm bid, but this was a “fill and kill” situation that was short lived. We are still seeing strong interest in chickpeas grading below a #2 this week as well. Bids range from $0.23/lb to $0.25/lb picked up on the farm for movement in the next 60 days. No discussion yet of 2021/22 values as buyers are still trying to figure out what is in the bins from previous production years. If you’re in the market to switch seed or want to discuss possible marketing opportunities, please call the office.

There seems to be a little upside starting to trend on milling oats right now as prices have turned more positive. Though that positivity is stretching more into the new year with little upside gain for nearby movement in 2020. Look for milling oat values in that $4.00 – $4.25/bu delivered into Manitoba. Call your Rayglen agent for location specifics and/or FOB farm bids as there may be a price perk for your area. Not too much has changed in the way of feed prices as bids still seems to be hovering around that $2.25-$2.50/bu picked up on the farm.

Lentils markets seem as though they have hit their tipping point this week. Large green and red lentils have slipped slightly in value, while small greens seem to be stuck at the $0.32/lb delivered mark.  Large green lentils lost a cent or two with only a hand full of our buyers now quoting $0.37/lb delivered and some with bids as low as $0.35/lb delivered. Red lentils saw a penny loss this week as well with $0.29/lb delivered looking like the high. Similarly, to large greens, reds are seeing lower prices being bid out there, so it may be a good time to catch these values while you still can. Lower grade lentils (#3/sample/feed) are being bid at $0.25/lb, an attractive value for growers with that quality on farm.

The wheat market is holding consistently as of late with feed bids still catching $6.00/bu FOB farm in most areas of Saskatchewan. Movement in many cases is in the first months of 2021 but with the standard slowdown at Christmas time, 2021 is just around the corner. Prices on milling wheat are showing only around $6.50 to $6.70 delivered to plant for early in 2021 for many buyers right now so there is obviously not much of a push beyond the feed price there. Those milling bids would be on a #1 CWRS with min 13.5% pro and a $0.30 discount on 12.5% protein quality product. The world wheat stocks remain decently supplied even with the most recent USDA showing slightly lower US numbers. Durum prices are carrying a fair premium to milling wheat these days with most areas showing a #1, 13.5% CWAD at $8/bu or a little stronger delivered in. 

Feed barley markets has levelled off after a decline over the past couple of weeks. Prices have settled in around the $4.40-$5/bu FOB farm range for movement into the new year. The biggest factor in price is location, with the best pricing being closer to southern Alberta. While this is down from the highs we were seeing a month ago, these are still very profitable numbers that are worth taking a look at.

Canola markets have had a strong week with the January futures reaching another new high for the year at $559.90/MT at time of writing. This compares to last week, when they were as low as $535/MT. Much of this strength came from Tuesday’s USDA report cutting soybean production by 98 million bushels, thus tightening stocks even more so than before. There’s a small carry into the March futures as well, which currently sit at $563.20/MT.

Profit-taking and resurging COVID-19 concerns are weighing on futures. Losses are limited by strong Chinese demand, dry weather in Brazil, and a shrinking U.S. crop in 2020. Local soybean bids now hover around $12.25/bu picked up depending on location. Pending Australian faba bean competition is looming over Canadian export prospects and resulting in scarce export bids. Feed faba bids are in the range of $6-$7/bu FOB farm, location dependent. North American dry bean harvest has largely concluded, and production numbers are up. Harvest delivery pressure is beginning to subside, and some early support has come to some of the specialty classes. New crop dry bean bids are soon to be released. Contact Rayglen if you are interested in new crop programs.

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.