Grain Today - November

Good day,


It has been a wild ride on the markets again this month with almost all commodities making gains from the first of October. The only thing this year has proved is that every year is different. I thought we would see a correction by now, but the trend is up. Many producers are starting to use the highly successful strategy of “just wait, it will go up”. So far so good. Unfortunately, I don’t see this as being the long term new normal. No one seems to have any idea when the run will end. If it is the new normal, we will be dealing with mass starvation in poorer countries and double-digit inflation. Producers are already experiencing some of that with the massive fertilizer and chemical price increases and the difficulty in acquiring new equipment.


But on to more pleasant topics. We are seeing bids of $11 for feed wheat, up to $9 for feed barley, $9.75 for glyphos free 2 CW oats (all Western MB) and $45.50 flax (Shaunavon SK). One of my clients in the Brandon area sold #2 CWRS wheat for $11.50 delivered. Looking in from the outside I would think that these are prices that should generate some sales, at least some % of what is left in the bin.


Back to one of my favorite hobby horses. Please be sure you have good bin samples of what you are marketing. Commodities like lentils or green peas should be graded by an independent grader such as Intertec or SGS. Then both you and the buyer can be comfortable that what is loaded is what the buyer is expecting to unload. It is never a good situation when 43 MT is sitting on a truck $30/MT away from your bin and the buyer calls and tells you that it doesn’t grade #2 as indicated or it is a #3 and the discount is x. Better to sell the #3 to the buyer who wants it and won’t discount you.


We are seeing historically strong new crop prices already. Some bids are with AoG which makes them much more attractive. If you are interested in doing some new crop checking don’t hesitate to give us a call as we are always interested in buyer’s mindset on new crops.


We have good demand for feed barley and wheat with the strongest prices in eastern prairies. The US corn that was supposed to show up at the end of October is having trouble finding transportation. Not enough drivers with trucks sitting. This is keeping demand and prices for other feed grains strong.


Also looking for yellow peas and milling oats.


If we can help in any way with price discovery don’t hesitate to call any one of the marketers on the bottom of this newsletter.


Until next month safe farming.

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