October 7, 2025

Good Day,


It’s October already. That means winter is just around the corner. Let's hope that we still have 6-8 weeks before the white stuff comes. Snow seemed to be more fun when I was 6 than it is now. September was a difficult month for harvest across most of the Prairies. Here in Brandon we had 12 days of either fog, drizzle or such heavy dews that it ran off the roof until 9 in the morning. As you might guess, most of the cereals that were still in the field sprouted. We have sprouted rye, oats, wheat and canola. Luckily the line companies are dealing with the canola, so far,  which is good.


The cereal grains are not so fortunate. When we first started to see sprouted wheat the feed wheat market was $6.25 for Oct/Nov movement.  Now we are $5.00 for Oct movement. There are still opportunities for $6 plus if you can hold till March/April. If you have the misfortune of having sprouted feed wheat, you need to remember that there is a lot of feed grain available in western Canada. It might be a good idea to price a significant percent of your feed wheat even if it is for further out. There really is no reason for prices to improve much during the winter.


Feed rye is still trading at decent values, but the nearby delivery opportunities are full unless you want to virtually give it away. We could get you $4.50 for January pick-up for feed rye and milling rye is priced 10-20 cents more. Feed oats are in a surplus situation too. I am sorry that I have no good news for you this month.


If you have any feed grains that have issues let one of our brokers know so when an opportunity comes along we know who to call. This seems like a year where a marketing plan will likely pay dividends. The best way to let us help you with that plan is to get accurate specs like moisture, protein, grade and share that with your broker. We will see short term opportunities to trade grain at better than market prices. If we know what you have then you can guess who gets the first call. With supplies of feed grains being excessive the buyer will likely not want to be long and they will not be too willing to give the producer a break if out of spec grain is shipped. The buyer does have the hammer if this happens. Be sure your grain is what you are selling. If not you will be the loser in the deal. Good brokers like Quality Grain can help  sort out issues but are not miracle  workers.


We have buyers looking for flax, both 1 CAN and lower grades. From my travels in MB and Eastern SK I think that flax acres are down this year but crops look good. I haven’t talked to anyone with flax harvested yet but some has been done.


The feedlots around Lethbridge are bidding $5.50/bus delivered on Barley for Oct/Nov/Dec movement. They have not provided much of a carry/premium for Jan/Feb/Mar movement. I get the sense they are still penciling out whether they will be using Canadian Barley or USA Corn this winter. Hopefully the majority stick with barley, but at the end of the day they will choose the best price. Feed Wheat is 6.75/bus delivered. The Yellow Pea market is still ice cold and bids are sub $7.00/bus picked up. 


In Southern Alberta we have seen ergot rear its ugly head in the wheat crops. This brings us back to the earlier point of knowing what you have. Most feeders won’t accept over 0.05% ergot. We have milling wheat options on CWRS that is a max 0.04% ergot spec. 


If you live between Red Deer and Lethbridge between highway 2 and highway 23 let us know what you have for CWRS. We will arrange to collect samples. If your samples are approved we will be able to market your wheat into the Milling market which will be competitive or better than your local line company, picked up at the bin.   


If you have any price targets please be sure to follow this link (Price Targets) and let us know what you are looking for price wise.


If you have the time we would really appreciate feedback on yields from all areas of the prairies. We don’t share your info with Stats Can or your banker. This just gives us a better sense of the size of crop. Often it seems we only hear the truly big or very small numbers. General feedback so far has been that most areas are having above average yields on most commodities.


Until next month,




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