On Friday, September 11, 2015 (a historic date in its own right), the USDA released its latest world agricultural supply and demand estimates. Most expectations going into the report were that the world crop soothsayers would keep things relatively mute on a global level, and downgrade U.S. production. Alas, the boys and girls in Washington, D.C. had… Read More

The Alberta Canola Producers Commission has decided it will no longer collect daily cash prices after the launch of the Alberta Wheat Commission’s prairie-wide grain price reporting website this week. The ACPC has compiled and posted regional grain cash prices and weekly feedgrain price reports since assuming responsibility from the Alberta Grains Council in October… Read More

Grain prices this week did not fare so well as the complex dealt with outside pressure from other commodity and equity markets, harvests, and good growing conditions. Most front-month contracts on the futures board dropped 2-5%. The decline started Monday with economic data out China showing its factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in three… Read More

Statistics Canada today released its estimates of principal field crop stocks to July 31, 2015, including a bearish supply estimate for the canola market (see table below). Not surprisingly, most major crop totals were down substantially year-over-year, as 2014 levels reflected the stock still in the pipeline from the 2013 bumper crop. Total stocks of wheat decreased 32.0% from… Read More

The closure of two packing plants in Ontario last year has forced producers to look for hook space at processors outside the province. The uncertainty in demand is hurting confidence in the industry, suggests Guelph-based livestock and meat market analyst Kevin Grier. At the start of 2014, Ontario’s federally-inspected slaughter capacity stood at around 95,000 head… Read More