Grain Today - May 9, 2023

Good Day,
Looks like seeding is just nicely starting across much of the prairies in the last few days. From what I have seen around Brandon it will become general this week unless we get a big rain event. I thought two weeks ago that soil moisture across the west was better than the last few years and then all those fires started in central Alberta. I have a request. Could anyone who has a moment either text or email one of us with what your soil moisture is like. If we get enough of a response we will send results out to everyone and let you decide if things look good, bad or ugly.

April was a very hit and miss month for trading grain. Some weeks the buyers were aggressive and other times you would swear that they had decided to take a spring vacation. We have been talking about this as a group and are starting to think it might be harder to get bids as we approach new crop. And that is coming. In less than 4 months from now there will be a crop in the bin.  What kind of prices we will see are just about anyone’s guess. Barley as an example. We have seen new crop bids move lower from $6.75 FOB farm to the last barley we traded at $6.00 fob farm for Sept/Oct movement. Are there still chances to price new crop? Yes there are and we are willing to help with that. I realize that the focus is on seeding right now but it is something to consider looking into when the autotrack is on and you have a minute to talk.

We do have buyers looking for old crop rye in MB and eastern SK. Can be hybrid or OP varieties. We also have several buyers looking for old crop malt barley. Copeland and Synergy are the two varieties that are in demand. Decent prices (freight dependent) and movement by end of June.

Speaking of malt, the new crop market has been fairly quiet so far. We have booked up some Copeland and Synergy into Manitoba but our Alberta and Saskatchewan buyers seem to be happy sitting on their hands waiting to see where this market goes.

Barley prices out west have been coming down, there was a slight bump in prices at the start of road ban season (late March/early April), but have now settled below $9/bus delivered southern Alberta. Unfortunately, many producers with grain left in the bins are expecting the numbers to continue up and are going to have to keep waiting.  We still have very little demand for milling oats, we have seen feed bids in the $3.50-3.75 range picked up (depending on location).

There is good demand for specialty crops – getting calls from buyers looking for any grade of lentils. Mustard has fallen closer to $0.80/lbs, well lower than the 1.10/lbs it was a few months ago.  A reminder that new crop bids on pulses, lentils, mustard and flax have Act of God clauses. If anyone has any of these crops in their rotation this year and would be interested in pricing out some new crop acres, call the broker you have been working with. All contact numbers are at the end of the newsletter.

Just a reminder to give us a call for a second opinion on prices when you plan on doing some marketing. We kick tires for free and with feed grains we kick about 50 tires at a time.

A little note before I sign off. If you have any bins that have not had the tops pulled off, especially peas and lentils, please check them. We are seeing crusted/heated peas, lentils, and chickpeas. We can find markets for all qualities but it is better for you if the grain has no issues.

Well that is it for this month, please take a second to let us know soil moisture in your area and have a safe and productive seeding season.




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