February 10, 2025

Good Day,

Here we are into February and winter has a rather good hold on the prairies. There have been lots of schools and roads closed due to weather. It has not been a pleasant winter for the people with cattle. It has been 20 years since we calved in Jan/Feb and I can still remember every frozen finger and ear. But the days are getting longer and it gives hope of spring to come.

Everyone was anxious with the runup to Feb 1st and the tariffs. We got a reprieve. “Big Woopy.”  My guess is that this will be ongoing. The threat of tariffs and then they aren’t as bad as threatened. So long as the US can force some concessions they will likely be satisfied for now. This last reprieve has got some of our US bound buyers back looking to move a bunch of grain in Feb. All I can really say is “Stay tuned”.

We have seen some interest in pricing some new crop. We had some yellow pea bids in Jan of $9.00 for Aug/Oct but those are up in the air due to, you guessed it. Tariffs. We have had producers ask about feed barley prices and have traded several lots in the $4.80 to $4.90 range in MB. Depending on location of course. Haven’t seen much interest in NC oats. Many of our buyer’s ship into the US and are not sure what the tariff situation will do to their sales. Anyone interested in pricing NC just get hold of one of us and we will get you some options.

With this uncertainty Trump's Tariffs are having on the market we have seen Yellow Peas and feed grain stall out in price. Most Yellow Pea bids are around $10.50/bus picked up. $11 in the yard is getting harder to find and if the USA does do tariffs we expect that number to continue to decline. The Rye market in MB is nearly non existent we priced some Rye out a couple weeks ago and the best we found was $4.85/bus picked up Souris. In Alberta we have been seeing $6.60/bus delivered to Lethbridge for May/June movement and prompt movement at a steep discount.

One thing we have noticed in the last couple of months is that most of our better prices are for movement 2-3 months down the road. If we need to move something within the next 3 weeks prices usually take a big hit. Reed was commenting today that he hasn’t seen this trend as pronounced in the 6 years he has been with Quality Grain. If you want to capture the best prices you need to plan ahead and look 2-3 months down the road. As an example. We had a big lot of corn that the producer was looking for for $6.25-$6.30 picked up. We could only get him $6.22 for Feb/March movement. But if he was willing to spread the same lot over March-June we could get him $6.35. Just a little thing to keep in mind.

We have been talking to producers about planting intentions for the upcoming season. I imagine most of you already have 90% of your acres committed. If we could get some indication from you as to what you are planning it would be good information.  All I am looking for from you would be to say the same, or that you have made big changes. We would be very interested in what prompted you to go with that plan. Eg) World situation, local moisture conditions, tariffs etc.

On a positive note we would like to introduce our new broker Daryl McCharles from Brandon MB has joined the Quality Grain team. Daryl had a long career with P&H and brings an extensive breadth of knowledge in grain markets, experience and expertise with customer relations. If you have dealt with Daryl in the past don't be shy and feel free to reach out and give him a friendly hello.
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Quick reminder that now is a good time to check on any bins you might have Canola in. We have seen a bit of an uptick in the amount of heated canola we have been seeing. Always a good idea to pull a load and get it tested. If you see any issues let one of us know and we will help you with pricing.

Till next month,



Richard Chambers
Marketer - Brandon, MB
204-729-1354 - Office
204-761-8320 - Cell
[email protected]