As the year winds down, the U.S. cattle market is showing strength, even with a seasonal pull back in prices, and a return to full processing capacity. Canada has been enjoying record exports to Japan, with continued demand for high quality, high grading product. But as we look ahead to the new year, it’s the… Read More
Black swan events have transformed agriculture. From the invention of canola to precision agriculture and the emergence of the African Swine Fever (ASF), these extreme and unpredictable events — both good and bad — continue to shape the industry’s future. Is Canadian agriculture and the agri-food system resilient enough to absorb the potential negative impacts… Read More
Grain markets ended the first trading week of December mostly lower, though oilseeds found some gains on soybean exports and production headlines. We’re going to get the USDA’s December WASDE report Tuesday, but StatsCan and ABARES released updated production estimates for the Great White North and the Land Down Undaa, respectively. Soybeans found some gains… Read More
While pulse market challenges haven’t been grabbing headlines as much lately, there are longer standing issues with chickpea, pea, and lentil movement than say, canola’s recent run-in with China. Murad Al-Katib, CEO of AGT Foods, says that there are reasons to be optimistic on pulse markets heading in to 2020, even in the face of… Read More
Grain markets ended the month of November strongly as a shortened trading day on Friday, November 29th (due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday) saw significant technical selling, which pushed prices up. Corn gained eight cents while Chicago SRW wheat futures jumped 15 cents on Friday alone — helping the complex end the month on an… Read More
It’s been over two months since the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) suspended the license of a beef slaughter and processing plant in Ontario, and the shutdown is taking a toll on the eastern Canadian beef industry. Toronto-based Ryding-Regency Meat Packers Ltd. saw the suspension of its Safe Food for Canadians license effective September 17,… Read More
The United States Department of Agriculture released its November 1 cattle-on-feed report, which saw results in line with pre-report expectations. Anne Wasko, of the Gateway Livestock Exchange, sums up the report below: “November 1 cattle-on-feed is up 1 per cent from last year at 11.8 million head. This is 7 per cent larger than the… Read More
Fresh off a big trip to New Zealand representing the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Anne Wasko, of Gateway Livestock Exchange, is back for a Beef Market Update. (Read more about Anne’s experience at the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef here) Here in the northern hemisphere, it was another good week in the U.S., with… Read More
Grain markets were mixed for the 3rd week of November, but winter wheat prices finally had a green week of performance thanks to strong export activity and concerns of how the 2020 crop is starting out. Supporting the cash markets has been the slow state of Harvest 2019 and farmers being less inclined to sell,… Read More
Grain markets ended a shortened-trading week mostly in the red as the complex pulled back on concerns over a trade war deal getting done and ongoing weak demand fundamentals. While many analysts are saying that corn and soybeans are oversold and nearing technical support levels, the only thing that seems to be strengthening is basis… Read More
Grain markets ended the week mostly lower, as hiccups surrounding the release of the November WASDE report put a damper on things. On Friday, November 8th, the USDA was supposed to release their monthly estimates of world agriculture supply and demand at 12PM EST. Instead, their website crashed and the actual report wasn’t released until… Read More
It may just be the story we look back on for cattle markets in 2019 – both the United States and Canada have produced more beef, while at the same time, wholesale prices remain high. “That is a good news story. I don’t think we better get complacent though,” says Gateway Livestock Exchange’s Anne Wasko,… Read More
Grain markets entered November on a mixed-week of performance, but most grain prices did find some positive gains for the month of October. Canola and hard red spring wheat were the only futures markets who didn’t find positive gains in October, suggesting that the price run-up at the end of September might’ve priced in anticipated… Read More
The pulse harvest in Alberta and Saskatchewan is in its late stages now, and although there are some anecdotal observations of better-than-expected quality, it’s not all ideal. “There is some sprouting, and there is a lot of earth tag,” says Chuck Penner, of Leftfield Commodity Research, adding the visual damage is worst for green lentil… Read More
The United States Department of Agriculture has released its October 2019 edition of the U.S. Cattle on Feed report which showed cattle on feed down one percent in comparison to a year ago as of October 1. According to Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange, “There were no real surprises in the numbers this… Read More