Grain Today - January 2023

Good Day,

2022 is in the rear-view mirror as I write this. Overall, I think, it was a decent year for most producers in the prairies. Some areas were too dry through much of the growing season and some areas were too wet at seeding - with seeding 4 to 6 weeks behind normal. I was sure that this would lead to late harvest and frozen (feed quality) grain. I was right about the late harvest but wrong about the frost. Most of the crop came off with good grades, test weight and quality. So, 50% on a prediction isn’t too bad. Sort of the same accuracy as Environment Canada.

We already have producers talking new crop and are seeing some decent prices compared to historical averages. Just to give you some examples.

Yellow Mustard – Yorkton SK area- 0.86/lb FOB farm Oct/Dec

Feed Barley - Virden MB - $6.50 FOB farm Aug/Sept

Malt Barley – Western MB - $8.00 FOB farm Sept/Dec

As you can see these are not horrible numbers and from what information we are getting canola is still decent for Sept/Oct movement. Have heard some producers locking in $12 for #2- 13.5 HRS. Many of our buyers are telling us that they will have New Crop pricing out in time for the crop production shows that are coming along in January. This will give everyone a better idea of what buyers are seeing for end of year demand. We are very happy to help you with the pricing of new crop. Just call or TX any of the brokers listed at the bottom of this newsletter.

A very interesting scenario was brought to our attention by one of the producers we work with. We have talked it over and feel it is serious enough to address it in our newsletter. Here is the deal:

A producer contacted us about selling their heated canola. We found them a fair price with a reputable buyer. The buyer couldn’t move it for 2 weeks. Meanwhile the producer found a buyer on their own that could move it right away at a decent price. So all good, they went with this deal and in parting I asked the producer to get back to me with how it all worked out. They did, and unfortunately there was a bit of a disagreement on agreed upon price after the load unloaded. In this case the producer's deal was all verbal, nothing on paper.  This is the important part. When we do a trade both the buyer and seller get a copy of our Brokernote. It spells out all the details. If there is an issue both sides have a contract that they can refer to. Now I said this, “No you didn’t”. That is one of the reasons that you as a producer pay us the $2.50/MT. Just something to keep in mind.

Buyers are starting to come back to the table for current purchases. Not seeing any big bumps but seem to be holding our own from December. We still get the feeling that oats are maybe in a burdensome supply situation right now. Buyers are looking for deliveries out to March to June. This doesn’t spell a big rally in my books. But then I am only 50% right at the best of times. Good thing you don’t have to pay for my thoughts.

On that note. We will try to keep the weekly crop pricing updates coming and if any of you feel we could do something to improve the information we deliver just let us know. No guarantees but we will look at it.

At the bottom of this email we have a link to Combyne, some of you may have dealt with them in the past, some may be dealing with them currently. They have pivoted from being a marketing marketplace to becoming a one stop Crop Marketing Record/Management application. For more information follow the link by clicking on the image. 


Until next month, rest up, seeding is coming.




Richard Chambers
Marketer - Brandon, MB
204-729-1354 - Office
204-761-8320 - Cell
richard@qualitygrain.ca