September 5, 2025

Fall isn’t here officially until Sept 20, but here in Brandon it feels like we are full on into fall. Trees are starting to turn. The lows of the last 2 nights have been under 5C and the combines are running hard.

Here in SW Manitoba we have been very fortunate with moisture this year and the crops are very good on average. July and August seemed to be drier than normal. The bushel grain monitors on the combines aren’t reflecting that. We are seeing Barley at 100 bushels, Rye between 80 (OP) and 120 (hybrid), HRS wheat 70 to 80, CPS wheats pushing 100. Yellow peas 60-70. Oats 120 -160.

I was talking to a producer in the Arborg MB area and they had 0.5 inches of rain between seeding and July 1. His wheat is running 65 bushels. All this shows is todays producers can grow an amazing amount of grain on very little moisture compared to 40 years ago.

Unfortunately, these big numbers lead into two problems. One of the big problems we are having right now is it’s a struggle to find decent bids for just about all commodities. Keep in mind that these are MB bids that I will be discussing. Reed will be adding in some AB numbers at the end.

Feed barley if you need it moved in Sept -sub $4.00, $4.20 for Oct/Nov
Feed wheat -$6.30 to $6.40
Yellow peas -$6.00
Rye (low falling number) $4.00 move in Dec/Jan. 180 FN ob $4.20 Oct-Dec
Oats – Milling $4.00 Eastern Mb, $3.80 western MB
Oats feed - $3.00 Sept/Oct

This brings us to the second of the big problems. If you need to move some feed grains for bin space and cash flow it is likely a good idea to start looking sooner than later. Available delivery windows will fill up quickly and this will depress prices even further. Everything we hear is about the big corn crop in the US. This is really pressuring prices in the feed complex. As of right now we are going to have a big corn crop in MB. Acres are up here in western MB and I would say similar in the east. At least we will be able to feed Canadian corn instead of importing as much from the US. But prices will still suffer, as feeders will not hesitate to switch to US origin for a better price.

Just a little something I ran into again this year. The old winter triticale variety Fridge appears to have been around for so long and common seed has been cleaned and reseeded so often that it is reverting back to one of its parents - fall rye. We have had 2 lots of Fridge triticale, grown from common seed that when tested for purity failed badly. Now its just poor quality rye. This is one reason you do need to refresh your seed to make use of current genetics and not have marketing issues as well. I know there is very little triticale grown but I just thought this was of interest.

This is the first time in the 18 years I have been brokering grain that we are struggling to get bids on yellow peas from Eastern SK an MB. We keep hearing the same story. Processors in the US have sufficient local production and aren’t sure when they will come to the table with half way decent bids. This is why I’m showing $6.00 for yellow peas. Unfortunately, unless there is a significant off shore demand for peas the markets aren’t likely to improve much in the next few months.  Both canola and pulses are being hurt with Chinese tariffs.

Pricing in Alberta is not a lot rosier compared to MB.
Prices into Lethbridge:
Feed barley – 5.55/bus Oct, 5.75.bus Nov/Dec (delivered)
Feed wheat - $6.50/bus Sept/Oct
Yellow peas - $6.50/bus
Feed Oats $3.50/bus Sept/Oct
Rye – $5.00/bus Sept/Oct
2024 crop CWRS 13.5-14.0 protein $7.75/bus (picked up southern Alberta closer to highway 2 is best) - not taking 2025 crop yet - subject to sample approval

As always we are happy to help with price discovery. September movement, across the board, is filling up fast and many buyers are looking into October or later. Don’t hesitate to give us a call or text and we will let you know what we can do. At minimum we ask for you to give us a call before selling to your local elevator if you need something moved quickly.
 
Until next month, have a safe harvest!

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