July 6, 2026

Good Day,

As some of you are aware Danielle Rands of Roblin MB joined the Quality Grain Marketing team back in November 2025. She comes from a commodity/agricultural background having worked with commodity trading companies and GrainFox (FarmLink). She has been a wonderful addition to our team so far, and we have now requested she chime in with her voice every now and again on our monthly newsletter. Today this is her rendition of what is happening in the grain markets. Thank you Danielle



Hope everyone had themselves a great Canada Day. It  is hard to believe we are already on July 6th. Depending on how you look at it, we are either halfway through 2026 or only a month away from the start of the 2026/27 crop year. Some days it feels like January 1 was yesterday, and other days it feels like it was a couple of years ago. It has certainly been an interesting first half of the year. 

We watched crude oil climb above $115 per barrel during the conflict in the Middle East, and now it has settled back to around where it was before. If I do say so myself, it would be nice to see that reflected at the fuel pumps a little more. As I write this, it is pouring rain outside. At times it feels like Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan might simply float away. For some positive news, other parts of the prairies are finally receiving the moisture they have been waiting years to see. Between the tornadoes and the heavy rainfall, at Roblin, I am ready for a little sunshine myself. My thoughts are with everyone dealing with flooded fields or flooded basements. I know it has been a stressful stretch for many. 

Looking through some of the recent reports, Canadian farmers have seeded more canola, barley, corn,  and soybeans this year. Wheat, oats, dry peas, and lentil acres on the other hand are lower. None of that is particularly surprising. Corn acres were down in the U.S. and canola, barley, and soybeans maintained fairly strong markets later into the marketing year. Lentils, peas, and oats have been relatively quiet since harvest, aside from a brief period in the spring when pea movement picked up. Export demand remained quite strong through much of the year before slowing during seeding and spraying season. We also saw a significant increase in feed barley exports this spring, which helped support barley prices.

With increased acres in some of these crops even with concerns about weather impacting production in certain regions, it may be a good time to start thinking ahead. If you expect to have grain to move early at harvest, whether it is for cash flow reasons or bin space, it is worth checking in with your broker to see what pricing opportunities are available. Markets can change quickly as harvest approaches, and having a plan in place can provide more flexibility when the time comes as there are some strong pricing options out there on certain crops. Soybeans in southern MB being over $14/bus picked up, and yellow peas being around $8/bus. Feed barley has been pulling back a bit as the earlier months were filled but we still have some $5/bus options picked up closer to the new year. 

Out west we are seeing old crop barley prices come down. July barley is 6.30/bus  and feed wheat is $8/bus delivered. New crop Barley is $5.75/bus and Feed Wheat is closer to $7.50  delivered feedlots around Lethbridge. If you are interested in picked up values please give your favorite broker a call.

As always, prices are highly dependent on location. If you receive our daily bid summary, you will notice that we identify exactly where each price is coming from rather than providing a broad area average. That allows you to see whether a particular opportunity is actually relevant to your area. If you wish to sign to check out our daily bids before signing up head to the website (link). If you are interested let us know and we can sign you up

A quick reminder as well that old crop demand continues to tighten. If you still have grain that needs to come out of the bins before harvest, do not leave those decisions until the last minute. Hopefully eastern Saskatchewan and much of Manitoba will start to see a stretch of sunshine soon. A little dry weather would certainly help crops and at this point. I think everyone's spirits too.

Meanwhile, internationally there has been no shortage of stories influencing grain markets around the world either. Europe has been dealing with a significant heat wave, with parts of France setting temperature records last week. The hot, dry conditions have pushed their wheat crop into an earlier-than-normal harvest. Russia is working through harvest while continuing to deal with the challenges of war and fuel shortages. In the United States, the winter wheat harvest is nearing the halfway mark. Production is expected to come in a bit smaller than previous years but there has been some improvement in the spring wheat crop as growing conditions have become more favorable.

As usual buyers are looking for old crop barley and feed wheat to tie them over until combines get rolling in the next 4-6 weeks. If you have questions about current markets, are wondering what pricing options might fit your operation, or simply want to talk through a marketing plan heading into harvest, give one of our brokers a call. We are always happy to discuss the opportunities available in your area and help you decide what makes the most sense for your farm.

Until next month,


Danielle Rands
Marketer - Roblin, MB
306-621-5797
[email protected]