July 12, 2024

Good Day,

Well another month is gone in 2024. Moisture is still a good topic to start conversations with. Some areas in eastern MB are way too wet. 20 inches so far with terrible moisture stress. Carberry west into eastern SK are in pretty decent shape. Crops are good in those areas. They are still behind normal but catching up at a very fast rate. Corn and soybeans are jumping with all the heat. Most producers that I have talked to think crops are 10 days to 2 weeks behind the last 5 years. Barley harvest won’t start until mid August rather than the first week of Aug.


Talked to Richie at Yorkton today and he said crops are generally in good shape, with just nice moisture. Naturally there are some areas that have gotten too much rain. 8 inches between Yorkton and Melville. From our Alberta brokers it seems that further west the crops are doing okay too, but will need some more moisture to finish the crops. Even still, this is more moisture than the last few years. In general, most of the crops that were seeded early are looking fantastic – with winter wheat looking really nice in most areas.


Crop prices have sure taken a bath since I wrote June’s newsletter. I am surprised at how low feed barley has dropped. Here in western MB we have gone from $5.10 to $4.50 in the last month. I would think we are close to the bottom but who knows. To give you a reference in pricing barley across prairies, at Diamond City AB the bid was at $5.50 for Sept/Oct movement. There is more than $1.00 freight between here and there. $60/MT likely. This helps illustrate why eastern prices are as low as they are. Corn is very competitive with prices running $6.20 delivered into MB locations. With barley acres down again this year it will be interesting to see how things play out. New crop feed bids are on par with old crop bids at this time.  Malt buyers don’t seem to be very aggressive either. Been hearing bids of $6.25 to $6.50 picked up in eastern SK.


Something to keep in mind as harvest is getting closer. Make sure you keep good samples and please, if you are harvesting crops that need to be GMO free make sure your harvesting equipment is cleaned and then flushed out. If you have $10 yellow peas sold they can quickly turn into feed peas at $7.50 if 1 soybean or 1 kernel of corn shows up in the sample.


I hope no one has the misfortune of finding a bin of heated canola this late in the year. If you do get a good representative sample. Get it graded for % heated and moisture.  A picture of the crush strips the grader uses would be helpful as well. Send us the info and we will do our best to help you out. We deal with multiple reliable buyers for this product. It still has many uses but buyers need good accurate information to move it to the right market. This will lead to the best price possible for you.


Here are the SK brokers:


Richie Yaremko – Yorkton SK – Has been with Quality Grain since 2015, and farmed in the Willowbrook area for 25 years. Worked as a customer service rep for Cargill (Yorkton) for 17 years, followed by 7 years as a farm market advisor and joined Quality Grain after retiring from advising. He brings a wide range of experience in both the farm side and the supplier/marketing side of the business.


Robert Rusu – Moose Jaw SK – Joined Quality Grain in 2019. Farmed in the Kayville area for 30 years followed by 11 years with Saskatchewan Crop Insurance as an adjuster. Robert owned and operated his own semi hauling company – hauling fertilizer, grain, and vegetables across Canada and the USA. He has strong connections with the producers in southern SK and with his farming experience brings a lot of expertise to the Quality Grain team.
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Have a great rest of July, hopefully you get some vacation time somewhere you can cool down.


Quality Grain Marketing began text messaging updates last month If you would like to be added to our text group please let me know by texting the toll free number directly +1 (833) 768-8889 with your Name, Location, and crops you are interested in getting price updates on. Or if you would prefer you can let your broker know, respond to this email or scan the QR code below. 




Till next month,



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