Brian Wittal

Jan. 22 — The markets are acting like a yo-yo: down, up, down and so on. Corn is down one to three cents a bushel, beans are down eight to 17 cents a bushel, wheat is down three to six cents a bushel, canola is down $8 to $10 per tonne and barley is unchanged […] Read more

Jan. 21 — Markets bounced back nicely today to the point where they have almost regained all of the previous day’s losses. Corn was up five to six cents per bushel, beans were up 21 to 28 cents per bushel, wheat was up 20 to 22 cents per bushel and canola was up $8 to […] Read more

Jan. 20 — There was no party mood in the trading pits today. Grain futures markets took some hard hits today. Concerns of further world economic problems are driving financial markets down and overseas investors are looking at the U.S. dollar as a safe investment option right now. U.S. grain markets were down, due to […] Read more

Jan. 19 — Canadian grain futures markets are quiet today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. Canola closed up $3 per tonne, and barley closed down $2.80 per tonne. With this being a quiet day I thought I would do an update on where wheat prices are right now and also take […] Read more

Jan. 16 — Grain futures were up again today across the board. Corn was up 25 cents a bushel, beans up 12-25 cents a bushel, wheat up nine to 15 cents a bushel, canola up $2-$4 per tonne and barley up $4-$6 per tonne. Informa Economics came out with its predictions of intended seeded acreage […] Read more

Jan. 15 — Grains were mixed today but oilseeds found support and canola pushed back up to recent resistance levels yet again. Corn was down two cents a bushel, beans finished up five to 23 cents a bushel, canola finished up $5 to $7 per tonne and wheat finished down five to seven cents a […] Read more

Jan. 14 — Grains remained positive today, with small gains due to the fact that export demand seems to have picked up somewhat and deliveries have slowed down due to cold weather concerns reaching across the Prairies and into the U.S. Corn was up four cents a bushel, beans finished up two to eight cents […] Read more

Jan. 13 — Most grains rebounded nicely after the hard losses of yesterday following the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. The markets are very jittery as wheat, beans and canola all started down in the morning and then turned to the upside aggressively, only to fall back before the close to finish in a positive […] Read more

Jan. 12 — Surprise, surprise! Well, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports came out this morning and there were a few surprises, to say the least, mostly to do with larger-than-anticipated inventories for corn, beans and wheat. This caused an immediate selloff on the futures markets due to the now-larger-than-anticipated carryout of these grains that […] Read more

Farm Business Communications is starting off the new year with a new daily grain marketing commentary for our Alberta Farmer, Grainews, Manitoba Co-operator and Country Guide West websites. It’s prepared by Brian Wittal, who has spent more than 27 years in the grain industry, including as an elevator manager and producer services representative for Alberta […] Read more