The oat market continues mostly sideways and quiet on pricing this week. Bids still work back to between $4.00 to $4.50/bu delivered plant around Sask, but buyers are not aggressively searching as they have much of their needs covered for the nearby. Some opportunities do exist for late 2023 shipping, but unfortunately those delivery windows don’t warrant a carry in value. We have one small glimmer of hope in the SE corner of Sask with a buyer looking for some coverage on heavy oats, showing some aggressive bids up to $4.70/bu picked up on farm for winter movement. If you have some heavy product in that area you’re looking to move, please give us a call, email, text, WhatsApp, fax, or carrier pigeon. We have middling interest in feed oats near $4.00/bu picked up on farm in the right areas and less in the wrong ones. So, the discount from milling to feed is a short fall, if one at all, for those with borderline product that don’t want to face dockage and discounts in the milling market.

The pea market saw very little change week over week, with green peas holding onto their premium to yellows. At the time of writing, we still have offers trading at $14.00/bu FOB farm in most areas on #2 spec green peas. There has been some talk of bleaching issues rising this year, so we encourage growers to get their product checked before marketing. On that note, we do have pricing on sample grade quality, we just need to know the percentage of bleach to get a firm bid on your farm. Ballpark numbers have bids around $11.50 – 12.50/bu FOB farm for sample grade greens. Yellow peas remain at $12.50 – 13.00/bu FOB farm this week with no change in demand. Maple peas stayed strong at $14.00-15.00/bu FOB, depending on the variety. Calls have begun on seed inquires, we will have a supply of certified seed in a few varieties, so, if you are looking to update your seed or get into a new variety speak with your merchant.

Barley markets push their way along without much change from previous weeks. Buyers are still purchasing feed barley anywhere from $7.50/bu up to $9.00/bu FOB farm the closer you get to feedlot alley. Although there has been speculation that these values are likely set to soften due to train units being delivered into Lethbridge and feed being sourced from other commodities, we have yet to see these theories ring true. Despite strong feed values, logistics continue to be a hurdle with most bids quoted for new year shipping. This makes sense as many producers took advantage of high-priced markets earlier for cash flow and bin space, which still needs to move by the end of the year. Pile on record high freight rates and a general lack of truck availability and we can see why shipping is being pushed out. Maltsters remain rather skittish this week and we suspect all their buying is currently hand to mouth based on sample approval before purchasing. The feed world is making malt purchases slightly tricky as current values are likely not sustainable in the malt world, forcing buyers to avoid long positions. There is still a market out there however, so, if you have had your malt graded, we highly suggest calling in with your specs and let us do the leg work for you. We have said it before, but it really is worth saying again: these values into the feed market are something you should be selling a percent of your stock into!

The wheat world remains a tough market to read with futures jumping around daily, but there are some values being offered for $12.50/bu range delivered to various locations on #1/#2, 13.5% protein product. However, given the daily fluctuations, quoted values do not seem afraid to drop by $0.50/bu from the morning to the afternoon. Due to this instability throughout the market, we highly suggest placing a firm target out there so your product doesn’t get missed in a quick market blip. Generally, delivery windows are starting to get pushed out into the new year, Jan – Feb type shipping, but we still see the odd opportunity for some quicker movement. We suspect news from overseas of Russia pulling out of a grain deal with the Ukraine to export wheat is playing a roll into the daily futures swings that we are seeing. On the feed side of things, indicated values aren’t far off milling bids with product trading at the $11.50 to $12.00/bu FOB farm range depending on timeframe on location. This may be an avenue to consider for those with borderline specs or those who just want to avoid added hassle at the end of the day with dockage and/or potential discounts. Switching over to durum; buyers aren’t showing very aggressive demand, but one can likely still target that $13.50/bu picked up range for a #2 or better grade. This avenue is also one worth considering getting something locked in. Many buyers out there are starting to speculate on getting new crop purchases in the books for 2023 as well, so if this interest you give us a call to get some firm numbers your way!

Sask Ag reports chickpea quality for 2022 as slightly better than average with majority of the crop grading above #2 on 125,000MT of a total 135,000MT of production. While markets have slowly creeped up over the last several weeks, this week we saw more of a jump. Buyers are looking to purchase #2 Kabuli’s FOB farm at $0.55/lb for Dec-Jan movement. This has been a trigger point for growers and contracts are being written. There seems to be room for some volume so if you are thinking of hitting this target, give us a call. Sample and feed chickpeas are still a desired commodity valued at up to $0.35/lb FOB farm depending on downgrading factors. No news yet on new crop bids in Canada, but India has increased their Minimum Support Payment by 2% to encourage more chickpea acres in the coming Rabi planting season. To early to speculate numbers for new crop domestically, but we are always welcome to the conversation and setting potential targets.

The canary seed market continues to slide sideways again for another week. Buyer bids maintain around 40-41c/lb picked up on the farm with the latter for Dec/Jan movement. With no change in market value in a while, trading has quieted down on this commodity significantly. Both buyers and sellers remain content to standoff waiting for the first to flinch. When the market bounces, one way or the other, maybe we see an uptick in product moving. Until then, everyone seems to be content to sit on their hands.

Flax exports have been on the slower side so far for the 2022/2023 crop year. The CGC data shows that a majority of the shipments have gone to the US, while some containers have headed to other destinations that aren’t in the data. Canadian flax has been preferred for US destinations, but that is changing. Even with the extra freight costs, the US has been importing flax from Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey. Canadian premium flax pricing is just not competitive enough anymore. This is a big threat for our export potential and on top of it all, flax from the Black Sea region just keeps getting cheaper for China to purchase.

The same continues for mustard this week; steady pricing and demand from buyers continues to be the story. Bookings for new crop mustard acres and seed have begun now at a steady pace. As these trades happen, we again urge you to please talk to your merchant about new crop as targets may be placed. Spot price on all varieties sit over the $1.00/lb mark FOB farm again this week. Yellow mustard is still quoted the highest, around $1.15/lb and targets trading higher. Brown and oriental not far behind in the race, both quoted at $1/lb range or greater. We deliver mustard seed to your yard! Please talk to us as we have all varieties of seed available, treated or untreated.

Lentil market pricing eases this week. Red lentils are now trading predominately at 33-34c/lb FOB farm with the odd offer being triggered at 35-35.5c/lb FOB in the right freight areas, while large green lentils hold tight trading between 52-53c/lb FOB with demand seeming to slow a touch. Due to a bit of a pullback, trades have slowed this week and earlier booked contracts are now showing up at the plant. Shipping is a head of last year and if this continues, ending stocks may end up lower than expected.  Sask Ag is estimating that this year’s quality is mostly a #2 or better, with very little in the x3 or number 3 category. If you have some lower quality lentils in the bin, give us a call as interest in this type of quality seems to be increasing at very agreeable values. With limited quantities available, it may give the farmer a leg up on pricing.  Red lentils likely remain close to where they are for the short-term until combines hit the field in Australia. Large greens remain a bit more optimistic as supply seems to be tighter and farmer selling remains slower than the reds.

Soybean futures initially fell in response to Russia’s sudden reversal on the Black Sea Grain Initiative. However, these setbacks were offset and overruled by higher global edible oil prices. Local bids are location dependent and range from $17.50-$18.00/bu FOB farm. Dry bean prices are beginning to firm up as the market passes through a period of somewhat typical seasonally normal price pressure. Dry bean harvest reports out of Nebraska state later than normal harvest and yields being under longer term averages. Aussie La Niña rains still loom over harvest quality setbacks, the impact on the faba production region is still unknown. Local bids on export quality #2 fabas have been in the range of $13.00-$13.50/bu FOB farm and feed quality values are near $9.50-10.00/bu FOB farm, location dependent.

Local demand for canola remains strong. Global edible oil prices are contributing to robust crush margins and thus local crushers are reflecting that in their bid structure. Today, January futures, at time of writing, are quoted at $894.80/MT, up $10.60/MT on the day. After factoring basis levels, local delivered plant bids range from $20.00-$20.75/bu pending location and timeframe of delivery. FOB bids are attainable for those who would prefer product picked up at the farm gate. Please call our office to discuss these options and/or put in a firm target.

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.