The weather regime across southern and central Canada is currently being dominated by a large sprawling surface high over eastern regions with a slowly digging trough of low pressure over the West Coast. The flows around these two features have been producing warm summer-like conditions across the eastern Prairies with slightly cooler conditions as you […] Read more
Prairie Forecast Update: A few small tweaks
Forecast issued May 28, covering the period from May 29 to 31
Black Sea grain deal slow to get moving after extension
Ukraine says Russia has effectively frozen out one port
United Nations | Reuters — A deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer from Ukrainian Black Sea ports has not yet resumed full operations, the United Nations said on Friday, having come to a halt before Russia’s decision last week to extend it. The pact called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered […] Read more
Pre-election reports analyze Alberta’s ag issues
Three reports focus on party histories, ag sector concerns, current platforms
Alberta farmers’ concerns with provincial policy, and the two major parties’ stances on those concerns, are the subjects of a three-part analysis leading up to a provincial election on Monday. The Simpson Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy, a think tank operating out of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, says its three […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn hits one-month high on weather worries
Soybean, wheat futures also advance
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures reached a one-month high on Friday as forecasts for dry weather in the U.S. Midwest kept attention on early risks to this year’s crop. Soybean and wheat futures also rose, with the agricultural markets posting weekly gains following recent declines to multi-month lows. Traders added […] Read more
U.S. grains: Weak export demand, rising U.S. dollar pressure soy, corn
Markets consolidate before U.S. holiday weekend
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean and grain futures eased on Thursday as a strong U.S. dollar added to concerns about lacklustre export demand, traders said. The dollar rose for a fourth straight session to a two-month high, making U.S. commodities look less attractive to importers. Favourable weather for planting of U.S. […] Read more
Viterra in talks to merge with Bunge, source says
Merger would vault Viterra into top tier of grain trade
Reuters — Global grain trader Viterra is in talks to merge with U.S. rival Bunge Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter, in a potential mega-deal that would reshape the top tier of global grains merchants. There is no certainty that Viterra, part-owned by Switzerland-based mining and trading giant Glencore, will be able […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Rain falls, grain prices to follow
U.S. corn values expected to decline
MarketsFarm — Feed grain prices in Western Canada are showing the usual seasonal weakness as spring seeding continues, but prices are set to fall further. “I think as we get going, (prices) are going to lower down quite a bit,” Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Ltd. at Lethbridge said. “The corn market over the next […] Read more
AAFC projecting canola ending stocks to tighten
New-crop wheat ending stocks figure boosted
MarketsFarm — Canadian canola ending stocks in both the current marketing year and upcoming 2023-24 season will be tighter than earlier estimates, according to supply/demand projections from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) on Tuesday. Factoring in Statistics Canada’s latest acreage estimates and its data for stocks as of March 31 — figures both released in […] Read more
NEW FEATURE: Prairie Forecast: Summerlike conditions moving in
Forecast issued May 24, 2023, covering May 24-31, 2023
As we head into the final week of May, it is looking to be very summerlike across much of the Prairies. Currently there is a strong area of cool high pressure centred over the Great Lakes. This area of high pressure is what brought cool and windy conditions to the eastern Prairies on Wednesday. As […] Read more
U.S. grains: Profit-taking pressures wheat futures
CBOT corn firm, soy mixed
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell on Wednesday on a round of profit-taking as traders said the market lacked fundamental inputs to drive prices higher a day after a rally driven by renewed concerns over a Black Sea deal. Corn futures were firm for the second day in a row, with old-crop contracts […] Read more