The drought just blasted Justin Bell’s wheat crop near Rosebud, northeast of Calgary. Yields of only 40 to 60 per cent of normal are common but taking advantage of soaring prices is a way to mitigate some of the loss, say market experts.

Make the best of a bad year with astute grain marketing, say experts

Soaring wheat prices could go higher still, but get advice and be nimble, say market watchers

Reading Time: 5 minutes Drought conditions across Western Canada and elsewhere have driven wheat yields down — and wheat prices up. “I’m having trouble remembering any time in history where we have seen prices for fall delivery ahead of harvest this high,” said Mike Jubinville, senior market analyst with MarketsFarm. “It’s not the all-time record high for wheat prices […] Read more

Grain storage at a Russian seaport. (Pridannikov/iStock/Getty Images)

Tax, competition expected to prolong Russian wheat export season

Tax complicates forward sales for exporters

Moscow | Reuters — Exports of Russian wheat will stretch well into the second half of the season as Moscow’s export tax and tough competition with Ukraine and Romania slow sales until the end of 2021, traders and analysts said. Russia, the world’s largest exporter of wheat, generally sells most of its crop during the […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Big jump for durum

U.S. futures, lower loonie supportive for cash wheat bids

MarketsFarm — Wheat bids in Western Canada for the week ended Thursday were higher for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheats, while there were sharp increases for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD). Gains in U.S. wheat markets supported values, as did a steep drop for the Canadian dollar. Average […] Read more

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U.S. grains: Wheat rises to 8-1/2-year highs on world supply worries

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. wheat futures climbed to 8-1/2-year highs on Friday and European wheat futures extended gains, led by fresh contract highs in Paris, after steep cuts to world stockpiles in a U.S. government report fuelled supply worries, analysts said. Soybean futures rose on fears of tightening global vegetable oil supplies, but corn […] Read more


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U.S. grains: CBOT wheat stabilizes after rally as traders await U.S. crop data

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures stabilized on Wednesday as traders adjusted positions ahead of a U.S. government crop report, a day after prices jumped on concerns about tightening global inventories. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to issue an update on global grain supplies and demand in a monthly report on […] Read more



Crop quality has been a steep, fast downward plunge

Reading Time: 2 minutes The crop report from Alberta Agriculture in late July was — not surprisingly — dismal. But the speed of the deterioration of crop quality was nevertheless noteworthy. “Only 20 per cent of the annual crops (are) good or excellent,” it said in its end-of-July report. “This represents a 17-point drop in the last two weeks […] Read more

A sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to drought may force bakers to change how they work with flour.  Photo: DanielBendjy/E+/Getty Images

Millers, bakers fret as drought withers North America’s spring wheat

Reuters – Millers and bakers are draining wheat reserves and paying more for spring wheat used in baking, as drought shrivels crops across the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. Plains that produce more than half of the world’s supply. U.S. and Canadian farmers are bracing for a sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to the […] Read more



CBOT September 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with MGEX and K.C. September 2021 wheat (dark greeen and orange O/H/L/C). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Winter wheat futures up sixth straight day

MGEX spring wheat falls

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. winter wheat futures rose for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday as adverse weather in key exporting countries raised supply concerns, traders said. Corn futures were steady to firm, with the front-month contract ending flat while new-crop offerings rose on support from dry soils that threatened to hamper […] Read more