Two-and-a-half years after acquiring Red Deer-based farm consulting company Agri-Trend, Trimble is changing the way it works with the independent agronomy and grain marketing advisors that make up the Agri-Trend network. The company is focusing on providing its new digital platform to Agri-Trend’s affiliated “coaches,” while no longer offering administrative services, such as pricing and… Read More
Category: Grain Markets
Grain prices this week were mostly in the green as the market continues to weigh geopolitical risk versus weather risk (and thus, planting risk). And though planting is certainly behind in many areas of the major North American growing regions, it’s still early (relatively speaking). U.S seeding is well below behind the usual averages, and… Read More
Is corn growing greener beyond Ontario borders? How does corn profitability and cost of production in the province stack up with other growing regions around the world — from the U.S. to South America, Ukraine, and China? These are some of the questions Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs business analysis and cost… Read More
Statistics Canada’s crop reports are often subject to criticism, with analysts, traders and farmers questioning or downplaying the accuracy and relevance of the agency’s estimates. Participating in a StatsCan survey when the agency calls or emails you is technically mandatory under federal law, but the running joke is that farmers don’t provide accurate information to… Read More
Statistics Canada surprised grain market analysts with higher-than-expected acreage estimates for wheat, durum, lentils and peas, and a much lower-than-expected number for canola, on Friday. Coming off a dry year in much of Western Canada in 2017, you can’t help but notice the crops that came in above expectations are crops we generally think of… Read More
The issue: Taking a look at Friday’s StatsCan report, it looks like Canadian farmers are calling the bet on geopolitical trade disruptions. It appears farmers essentially see existing and potential trade barriers as a bluff worth calling in favour of other factors. Some examples: Durum – Even though there has not been a load of… Read More
Canadian farmers plan to seed far fewer acres of canola and much more wheat than what the market was expecting, according to Statistics Canada’s first acreage estimates for the 2018 growing season. The federal agency published its Principle Field Crop Areas report on Friday, based on a survey of about 11,600 farms between March 2 and… Read More
As the home of the only grain-handling facility in Canada that has direct, high-speed service from a U.S. railroad, the commodity logistics hub at Northgate, Saskatchewan, gives its owner a unique position in the Western Canadian grain industry — and a unique view of the current grain backlog. Opened in 2016, Ceres Global Ag’s facility,… Read More
As of Sunday night only five percent of U.S. corn acres had been planted. That’s nine percent behind the five-year average and 10 percent behind last year at this time. This may have you thinking this is bullish for corn prices, right? However, the U.S. farmer, and Canadian alike, can plant at paces never seen… Read More
Grain prices this week ended mixed as speculative players took profits off the table amidst growing weather and geopolitical risk. Delays in U.S. corn plantings and concerns about Chinese trade dominated the headlines. It’s still early, but just 3% of the U.S. corn crop was planted as of Sunday. Conditions this week weren’t great in… Read More