(Resource News International) — Bids for yellow mustard in Western Canada have been holding fairly steady while bids for brown and oriental mustard have had nowhere else to go but up.
“There has not been any rush to push the bids for yellows up from buyers and in fact values are likely to see a decline rather than any push upwards given that supplies are more plentiful,” said Baine Fritzler, chairman of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission.
He also pointed out that European environmental groups have been trying to raise the issue of genetically modified organisms in Canadian product, which may have caused some buyers to temporarily back away.
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“It’s perfectly legal for Canadian mustard to be shipped to Europe, but these groups would make one think it is not,” said Fritzler, a producer from Govan, Sask.
The increased supply of mustard in Canada has made buyers wary and because of that, values for yellows are likely to see some deterioration.
Buyers, he noted, were still having to fulfil mustard contracts at the high previously negotiated bid, and are in no hurry to purchase any additional quantities of the crop at this time.
“My suggestion to producers is to lock up those mustard supplies until after Christmas, and which point bids will likely be back over 30 cents a pound,” Fritzler said.
As for the bids for browns, the dealer said there was no other choice but for bids to climb from the poor levels at which they were sitting.
He acknowledged buyers of brown were also on the scarce side and any increase in value may only be short-lived once the demand pick-up has been covered.
Values for all types of mustard were expected to climb after the Christmas and New Year’s break and especially as spring seeding approaches.
“If end-users want to see enough mustard planted, there will be a need to see bids climb above 30 cents a bushel, at least for yellows,” Fritzler said.
He also advised producers who need to sell mustard for cash flow purposes, to push the spot bids being offered by the buyers.
“In a lot of instances, the buyer has a spot price and if the producer offers mustard a couple of cents above that value, there is a good chance that a compromise price will be agreed to,” he said.
Cash bids for yellow mustard in Western Canada, based on Prairie Ag Hotwire data, currently range from 24.3 to 25.8 cents per pound, for brown mustard 19.3 to 20.5 cents and for oriental mustard 24.3 to 25.5 cents.
At the end of October, yellow mustard bids ranged from 24.3 to 25.8 cents per pound, browns from 17.3 to 18.8 cents and for orientals, 19 to 20.8 cents.
