NYMEX August 2023 West Texas Intermediate crude oil, with August 2023 Brent crude oil (black line). (Barchart)

Extent of Saudi oil production cut unclear

Reported tensions within OPEC limit price gains

MarketsFarm — At the OPEC+ meeting Sunday in Vienna, Saudi Arabia announced it will cut its oil production by one million barrels per day (BPD) come July. And while that move was bullish for the markets, by how much remains to be seen, said Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group in Chicago. “It’s probably […] Read more

File photo of an irrigated alfalfa stand in Saudi Arabia. (JohnnyGreig/E+/Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia highly dependent on grain imports

Alfalfa more profitable for domestic growers

MarketsFarm — While Saudi Arabia is a giant among the oil-producing countries of the world, the desert kingdom does produce small amounts of grain. With a population that’s about one million less than Canada’s, Saudi Arabia is extremely dependent on importing its grain from overseas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) attaché in Riyadh explained […] 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


(USDA.gov via Flickr)

USDA’s supply and demand report largely stands pat

MarketsFarm — Any changes in the latest monthly supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday were few and far in between when it came to corn, wheat and soybeans; what the markets largely expected. However, there were some small revisions to the department’s global projections. That meant USDA’s March […] Read more




CBOT December 2019 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy, corn close higher

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures settled up on Thursday, as traders squared their positions ahead of a U.S. government report next week expected to clarify how many acres were planted of the two crops. Dealers said a rebound in energy prices provided some support, although there remained ongoing concerns in the […] Read more


Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Barley ‘price war’ seen sparked by China, Saudi demand drop

Paris | Reuters — A drop in demand from China and Saudi Arabia sent barley prices tumbling in recent weeks, despite low global supply, and price pressure may continue if harvest prospects for next season remain good, analysts at Strategie Grains said. The barley market rallied earlier in the 2018-19 season with weather-hit crops in […] Read more

The 2018 hay crop in Ontario was better than most other parts of the country.

Saudi human rights spat has repercussions for Ontario hay exports

Inquiries and visits from Saudi Arabia look to be drying up for Ontario hay growers

Other export opportunities exist for Ontario-grown forages, but the chair of the Ontario Hay and Forage Co-operative (OHFC) admits the trade-related fallout from the federal government’s recent spat with Saudi Arabia dealt a big blow. “We had tons of inquiries for massive amounts of hay from Saudi Arabia before this happened,” Fritz Trauttmansdorff told Farmtario […] Read more