Marketing your crop through the cash market is not the only tool for farmers to use. A growing group of farmers are using the derivative market with futures and options to manage the volatile risk of commodities. With the increase in price volatility producers have to reach out to use as much of the toolbox… Read More
Markets go up and markets go down. In the last thirty days canola has taken quite a run in multiple directions. Is it overbought, oversold or just right. Ask all of us in November. The trading range of $500 – $600 per tonne seems to be a real opportunity to trade the range but for… Read More
There has been quite a bit of commentary in the media recently from certain farm groups like the NFU and R-Calf regarding the need to eliminate or more strictly regulate speculators in the market. Interest in commodities has greatly increased in recent years which has increased the volume of speculators trading in corn, beef and… Read More
With the volatility in the marketplace, producers need to be actively involved in managing risk. There is a multitude of tools available to producers. Some are simple and some are more complex. One of the more useful tools that is maybe a little more challenging for producers to wrap their heads around is options. Using… Read More
Much of the attention is being paid to corn, soybean and lentil pricing this winter. The forgotten sister has been wheat. In many cases wheat is not as sexy or doesn’t get people as crazy with market anticipation. The fact is that wheat is still an incredibly important component of Western Canadian rotations. Not just… Read More
We have covered the issue of market volatility often on RealAgriculture.com. Even with the knowledge that volatility is a new-normal, some farmers still try and aggressively sell at the top of the market to derive the highest returns possible. At the Southwest Agricultural Conference in Ridgetown, I spoke with Victor Aideyan, HISGRAIN Commodities Inc. about… Read More
All fall and winter, canola has been the talk of the farming community. With speculation at one point that the acreage in Western Canada could balloon to as high as 22 million acres, farmers are eager to price the 2010 and 2011 crop properly. With the realities of how wet eastern saskatchewan is going to… Read More
Its not only a struggle to decide what to grow but also how to price the crop in this volatile pricing market. With special crops price discovery is an even bigger challenge fro many producers. With the poor growing conditions last year, lentil growers that got the crop off in a timely fashion and got… Read More
There are lot of choices for farmers this year which is creating a significant battle for acres, even amongst the special crop acres. Yellow and green peas are not one of the true sexy selections in comparison to canola but are still an option for farmers looking to diversify the rotation. With all the focus… Read More
Last weekend I was at a shop party with many of my neighbours in Picture Butte. Get a bunch of farmers, ranchers and feedyard owners together and what else is there to talk about other than grain prices and hockey. Barley was definitely the topic of discussion at several tables. For me its very interesting… Read More
One of the good news items this fall has been the soybean story. Yields in Ontario this fall were outstanding, reaching record highs in some areas of the province while at the same time off combine prices reached seasonal highs. Demand is strong for soybeans from countries like China. Already everyone is speculating on the… Read More
Today the CWB released the October PRO’s and the result was a modest increase in comparison to what some thought. With the recent run in corn, the coarse grain complex has some bullish weight behind it. To wrap up the PRO’s, I talked to Jonathan Driedger from FarmLink Marketing Solutions. (SEE THE VIDEO BELOW) One… Read More
As we discussed with Dana Omland from Palmerston Grain last week, the USDA report shocked the market. With corn yields being revised lower in the US, many producers are wondering what is the deal with the next year of commodity prices. Will we see a repeat of 2007 or a quick trade and then the… Read More
As an exporting nation, Canada has a history of relying on a low currency. Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past four years, the Canadian dollar no longer enjoys this low value luxury. Many producers who export are very concerned about the value of the Canadian dollar and some of the… Read More
The market just continues to get tossed around based on acreage, yield and carry out numbers from Stats Can and the USDA. Today it was the USDA’s turn as they broke the news that they have revised their corn yield estimates down to 155 bu per acre from 160 bu per acre. It has been… Read More