The report noted planting of corn, soybeans and spring cereals started late last week — the exception being where there are heavier soils. OMAFRA projected planting could be 80 to 90 per cent complete by week’s end, but cautioned there were some areas of the province where farmers had either yet to start or just began planting.

The report said winterkill was rather extensive for the province’s winter wheat and numerous fields were being seeded with spring wheat.

Winter canola was bolting in some parts of the southwest and there were reports of canola flowering in Essex County.

Some parts of Ontario saw fields becoming hard due to dry conditions, especially where there are clay-based loams. OMAFRA stressed farmers should not get too far ahead in their tilling of the soil.

Also, the report said applications of urea or urea ammonium nitrate risk volatilization. OMAFRA suggested farmers should fully incorporate or use a urease inhibitor to reduce the risk of nitrogen loss.

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The overall five-year average at this time of year is five per cent complete. This time last year, farmers were at nine per cent done. The department said progress this spring will pick up once it’s dry enough.

Of the crops already seeded, spring wheat, barley and field peas led the way at four per cent finished. Durum followed at three per cent and lentils at two.

There have been reports of winterkill on winter wheat, fall rye and other crops planted last fall. The extent at this time is uncertain as the damage continued to be assessed. The hardest hit region of the province was the southwest, due to a lack of sufficient snow cover.

Although spring runoff was better this spring than last, Saskatchewan Agriculture stressed the need for timely rains to maintain sufficient moisture. The report placed cropland topsoil moisture levels at five per cent surplus, 55 adequate, 26 short and 14 very short. Hay and pasture lands rated two per cent surplus, 52 adequate, 29 short and 17 very short.

Not only will timely rains be needed to sustain crops, but also for livestock, despite dugouts, sloughs and other water sources being replenished this spring. The department noted pasture didn’t winter very well, with conditions listed as zero per cent excellent, 12 good, 22 fair, 37 poor and 29 very poor.

Added to that have been issues with forage supplies, which were pegged at 35 per cent adequate and 65 inadequate. Feed grain supplies were estimated at 55 per cent adequate and 45 inadequate.

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Corn futures firmed slightly, consolidating below multi-year highs established last week, and soybean futures closed mixed.

A stronger dollar hung over the markets, making U.S. grains less competitive globally. The dollar rose on upbeat economic data and signs of strengthening inflation.

Chicago Board of Trade March soft red winter wheat futures settled down 13-1/2 cents at $6.44 per bushel (all figures US$). March corn ended up 3/4 cent at $5.53 a bushel, while March soybeans finished down one cent at $13.83-3/4 a bushel, staying inside of Tuesday’s trading range.

Wheat was the biggest mover, declining as forecasts called for temperatures to moderate in the Plains winter wheat belt over the next two weeks. Some traders believe that so-called winterkill damage over the weekend was likely limited to a few areas that lacked adequate snowfall, which can insulate crops from severe cold.

“It would have to be the northern half of Kansas, maybe into part of Nebraska, before you find problems with winter wheat, if there was any winterkill,” said Mark Schultz, analyst with Northstar Commodity.

The extent of freeze damage to winter wheat is difficult to assess until the dormant crop resumes growth in the spring, several analysts noted.

Corn futures edged higher and nearby soybean contracts ticked lower in a choppy session as the market sought fresh direction. Traders await U.S. acreage and usage forecasts expected from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual two-day outlook forum, which starts on Thursday.

In South America, more rainfall is expected in parts of Brazil in the week ahead, but soy harvesting was still expected to progress, while showers could ease dryness in Argentina.

“We’re having a bit of a breather in the market while we see a window in South American weather that’s more conducive for crops,” said Michael Magdovitz, commodity analyst at Rabobank.

— Reporting for Reuters by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.

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“Cold temperatures, chiefly domestically, lesser so abroad, will keep the wheat trade watching winterkill prospects over the weekend,” Matt Zeller, director of market information at StoneX, said in a note to clients.

Soybean futures also were firm, turning higher after trading in negative territory for much of the morning as traders squared positions ahead of the weekend. Tight supplies continued to underpin prices as export demand for U.S. soy ate into domestic stockpiles through January due to harvest delays in Brazil.

Corn futures eased on a technical setback but closed well above session lows.

Expectations for bumper harvests in South America despite dryness concerns throughout the growing season pressured both corn and soybeans.

Chicago Board of Trade March corn futures settled down 2-1/4 cents at $5.38-3/4 a bushel (all figures US$). For the week, corn futures dropped 1.8 per cent, posting only their second weekly loss in the last 10 weeks.

CBOT March soybean futures were 4-1/2 cents higher at $13.72 a bushel.

CBOT March soft red winter wheat was up 3-1/4 cents at $6.36-3/4 a bushel. K.C. hard red winter wheat was 5-3/4 cents higher at $6.16-3/4 a bushel.

Commodity Weather Group estimated that 10 per cent of the U.S. soft wheat crop and 15 per cent of the hard wheat crop were at risk of damage from the cold.

The U.S. Agriculture Department on Friday morning said private exporters reported the sale of 195,338 tonnes of corn to Costa Rica and 115,577 tonnes of corn to Guatemala.

— Reporting for Reuters by Mark Weinraub in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Colin Packham in Canberra.

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Corn futures traded slightly lower as traders assessed mixed crop prospects in South America, while wheat ticked up slightly on fears of winterkill across the U.S. southern Plains as frigid weather set in.

Price movements were limited ahead of a U.S. Department of Agriculture supply and demand report next week that is likely to confirm tightening stocks of soybeans and corn.

Despite trading near 6-1/2-year highs, soybeans could still rise further to curb demand, said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.

The most-active soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended 5-3/4 cents lower at $13.66-3/4 per bushel, dropping 0.2 per cent for the week (all figures US$).

CBOT corn fell 1-1/2 cents to $5.48-1/2 per bushel, ending the week 0.2 per cent lower, while wheat added 3-3/4 cents to $6.41-1/4 per bushel, a 3.28 per cent drop for the week.

Soybeans improved midday, but ended lower as traders positioned ahead of next Tuesday’s USDA report, expected to show further supply tightening.

“We’ve been quiet on the export front for a couple days, but people are thinking China will buy ahead of their New Year’s holiday,” said Joe Davis, director of commodity sales at Futures International.

The U.S. exported $28.75 billion of agricultural goods and related products to China, the world’s biggest soybean importer, in 2020, according to USDA data, missing the $36.5 billion targeted under the Phase One trade deal.

CBOT corn was little changed, though USDA reported daily export sales of 101,600 tonnes for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2020-21 marketing year.

Meanwhile, rain slowed Brazil’s soybean harvest and subsequent second corn crop planting, but forecasters still expect bumper crops.

In Argentina, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange on Thursday cut its 2020-21 corn crop forecast by one million tonnes to 46 million tonnes, citing lower-than-expected yields caused by dry weather.

— Reporting for Reuters by Christopher Walljasper in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Colin Packham in Canberra.

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OMAFRA forage and grazing specialist Christine O’Reilly and University of Guelph forage research technician Donna Hancock took the opportunity to review some different forage options at the FarmSmart Expo at the Elora Research Station in July.

Why it matters: Alfalfa which has been killed off cannot be planted back into alfalfa due to its natural autotoxicity. Other options are needed for farmers needing to replant forage.

“When it comes to boosting those forage inventories often growers are looking for one or a combination of three things; that’s protein content, digestible fibre or energy and yield,” O’Reilly said

She said the protein value of red clover is equal to that of alfalfa — around 20 to 23 per cent — but it’s a tougher crop to dry, so it’s important to ensure the crop reaches ideal storage moisture before ensiling. “If you are ensiling red clover, you want about 65 per cent moisture.”

O’Reilly said many farmers confuse the dark colour of the ensiled red clover with spoilage, but it’s common with the heating and caramelizing for red clover to get as dark as it does.

Both researchers hope to learn more of the feeding potential found in clovers this fall, after the evaluation and harvest of the forage trial at the Elora Research Station.

A cereal and pea mixture has a lower, but still adequate, protein content at 18 per cent. In most mixes, the cereals and peas tend to bloom around the same time. If growing conditions spread out the maturity — cereals are known to grow in cooler conditions compared to peas — O’Reilly suggests harvesting when the cereals are ready.

“Cereals are a grass. We want to harvest when the grass is ready because the quality will decline faster in a grass than in a legume. Harvest at or just before the boot stage in the cereal.”

NDF and energy

O’Reilly said energy and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) can be somewhat interchangeable. When looking at cereal species for a fibre and energy source there is not much nutritional difference between them. “We learned from research that Jim Johnson did in the late ‘90s and early 2000s that so long as (the cereals) are harvested at the same stage of maturity it’s really the crop maturity that influences the nutritional value than the species.”

Unless the cereals are being grown with peas or any other type of mixture, there are many options for timing of harvest. When harvested at the late boot to early-head stage, cereals have higher NDF and total digestible nutrients (TDN), compared to harvesting at a head emergence to soft dough stage. However, the soft head emergence to soft dough stage shows a higher yield.

“(The head emergence to soft dough stage) would feed a little bit more like corn silage, not exactly like corn silage, because you have that starch, and less digestible fibre in it,” O’Reilly said.

However, it’s not ideal to feed the cereals as a bailage. The moisture content is not evenly distributed and trying to lower the pH to allow for preservation is difficult.

“A grassy, pre-boot stage would make great bailage or you can ensile it, if you wait until soft dough, putting it in a bunker, tower or bag would be your best bet,” O’Reilly said.

‘Rocket fuel’

Italian ryegrass, more commonly known as annual ryegrass, can be a ‘rocket fuel’ for ruminants.

“It has the highest total TDN — which is a measure of energy, it’s got by far the highest digestible fibre, and if you look at its protein content, 20 to 23 per cent, that’s in line with our legumes,” O’Reilly said.

Due to annual ryegrass making such a great feed, forage breeders have been trying to increase the hardiness.

“It’s commonly used in temperate climates such as New Zealand and the British Isles. They want to spread it into other regions.”

For sorghum sudangrass, the brown mid rib (BMR) decreases the lignin production, allowing for an increase in digestibility.

The management of sudangrass is pretty much the same as that of corn silage, just ensure not to plant BMR and non-BMR varieties together, O’Reilly said.

“(The two varieties) cannot be stored together because they will feed differently. Keeping them separate helps the nutritionist to balance the two feeds correctly.”

Corn silage is another option, coming out as the top yielder. If it does not make the half- or three-quarter milk line that is common for silage, there is still a lot of sugar in the stem, allowing it to ferment well if not producing any grain.

“Even though your yield potential does decrease with every day of delayed planting, it’s still a big subtropical grass that has been bred for our climate so it’s a good yield potential, O’Reilly said.”

The forage trial at the Elora Research Station contains 25 different mixes, including individual species and different mixtures to allow for different harvest windows throughout the season.

“Quality and Speare Seeds were nice to donate the seed (for this trial), along with the forage analysis at A&L Labs in London, Ontario at a reduced cost. We are hoping for some good information for Christine to present at the FarmSmart in January of next year with the respect to yield and quality of these forages,” Hancock said.

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“People tended to kind of blend hay this year and they managed to get through. But the prolonged cold spring really I think put a lot of pressure on feed supplies,” said Terry Kowalchuk, a provincial forage specialist in Regina.

Provincial crop reports in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta show producers face tight supplies. The April 30 crop report from the Saskatchewan agriculture ministry said producers have been forced to fall back on alternative feeds and feed grains for livestock while they wait for pastures to green up.

There is also concern about winterkill in pastures. According to Glenn Friesen, industry development specialist with Manitoba Agriculture in Carman, there isn’t yet a strong indication of just how much winterkill there is.

“We expect it to be a touch higher than normal,” he said, “and we’ve had a fairly dry and warm spring and we know producers are getting cattle in the pastures.”

Although grass is starting to grow in pastures, there is concern that due to tight forage supplies producers could be forced to send livestock out to pasture earlier than usual.

“Putting (the cattle) out early has kind of a double whammy. It does (hold) back the potential (pasture quality) by quite a bit, that’s the problem. Especially in a dry year like this,” Kowalchuk said.

While the forage situation isn’t looking the best in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the May 8 crop report from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry said hay and pasture conditions had improved following warm temperatures and precipitation across the province.

In drier portions of the Prairies, there has been concern about grass fires ruining pasture and hay land for the year, as several large fires have been reported across the provinces.

“That’s affecting fence posts. That’s affecting fences. And so the ability for a producer to use that piece now becomes an issue even if the grass does grow back, there’s lots of work to be done to rebuild it,” Friesen said.

The dry spring could also affect this year’s forage crops. According to Kowalchuk, the yield potential for forages depends on precipitation received in May — but due to the late spring, the province is two weeks behind where it regularly is for this time of year.

“If we got rain late May, early June I think we’d still be OK. But we could definitely use a good two- to three-day soaker right now for sure, provincewide,” he said, adding it isn’t at a critical point yet.

— Ashley Robinson writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow her at @AshleyMR1993 on Twitter.

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“I checked the soil temperatures this morning across the Prairies and most of the soils are about -10 C and winter wheat at this stage can still handle that level of coldness…so I think in most areas we are still OK,” Ken Gross said.

Winter wheat can handle soil temperatures as cold as -16 C, said Gross, a director with Winter Cereals Manitoba and agrologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Temperatures throughout the winter in Western Canada have dipped to the -30 C to -40 C range numerous times — and most of the Prairies south of the Trans-Canada Highway have been plagued with little to no snow cover.

“There’s a general lack of snow cover across the southern Prairies. So it sure would be nice to alleviate our concerns if we got a little bit of snow and hopefully warm up a little bit here too,” Gross said.

The Drought Monitor map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as of Jan. 31 shows a dismal picture, with severe drought conditions in a pocket in southern Alberta and throughout south-central Saskatchewan, and extreme drought conditions around Regina and Weyburn.

The news is better in Manitoba, where there are only moderate drought conditions in the province’s southwest.

North of Winnipeg, meanwhile, there has been adequate snow cover blanketing the fields for most of the winter.

“Up here in our area we’ve had good snow cover for most of the year. So anyone who put winter wheat in I think is going to be OK so far,” said Doug Martin, interim executive director of Winter Cereals Manitoba and a farmer near East Selkirk.

There is still a chance winter wheat crops could be damaged. As the season progresses, winter wheat tends to lose its hardiness.

“March is more of a month that can do more damage on the winter wheat. So that’s where we’ve seen in past years more of the damage,” Martin said.

For the drier areas, if the winter continues without snow, producers should plan to apply nitrogen as soon as possible in the spring, according to Gross.

“If the crop is coming out of the winter a little bit weak, it needs a little bit help… the fertility will help it grow quickly and move through that very successfully.”

The lack of moisture isn’t just affecting Canadian winter wheat; south of the border crops are struggling as well. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s wheat outlook report, released Monday, notes no significant precipitation in the last four months across the southern Plains, causing further deterioration of winter wheat.

According to Gross, the U.S. usually loses about 10 per cent of its winter wheat crop each year to winterkill.

U.S. growers, according to USDA’s Monday report, seeded 32.6 million acres of winter wheat, down one per cent from 2017.

In Canada, winter wheat acres are down as well. According to Statistics Canada, 335,000 acres of winter wheat were seeded in the fall in Western Canada, compared to 535,000 acres the previous year.

This isn’t surprising to Gross. Farmers told him they hadn’t seeded as much winter wheat due to dry conditions which plagued the Prairies last summer.

“There was interest in seeding winter wheat last fall but it was just so dry it was hard,” he said. “Guys were really reticent to get out there and seed into concrete.”

— Ashley Robinson writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow her at @AshleyMR1993 on Twitter.

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Farmers in Kansas grow hard red winter (HRW) wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class that typically is milled into flour for bread. The impact of any crop loss could be magnified because supplies of high-protein HRW wheat already are scarce due to low protein levels in the last two harvests.

Also, the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January is expected to show U.S. farmers planted even less winter wheat than a year ago, when acreage fell to the lowest since 1909.

“I think the eastern three-quarters of Kansas is at risk for some winterkill,” said David Streit, a meteorologist with the Commodity Weather Group.

Winter wheat is most resistant to winterkill in December and January. However, temperatures that drop below about -5 F (-21 C) for two hours or more can cause freeze damage.

Readings on Monday could fall to -8 F (-22 C) in northern Kansas, said Don Keeney of MDA Weather Services.

“That is definitely going to cause some issues there, especially as dry as they were this fall,” Keeney said.

Dry soil cools more quickly than moist soil, and about a third of Kansas is in moderate drought, according to the latest weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report prepared by a consortium of climatologists. The entire state is abnormally dry, the report said.

Much of Kansas also lacks snow cover, which can act as a protective blanket for dormant crops.

In Oklahoma, another major producer, temperatures on Monday are forecast to dip to 0 F (-18 C), posing a minor risk. However, if readings dip much lower, “the threat will increase substantially,” Keeney said.

River ice

Frigid temperatures will grip the Midwest as well, although snow cover should protect most of the region’s soft red winter wheat, used in cookies and snack foods.

The cold is likely to hasten the build-up of ice on the Illinois River, slowing barge traffic and impeding shipments of Midwest corn and soybeans to Gulf Coast export terminals.

“We are starting to see some ice form there. I would expect ice over the next five days to really increase substantially,” Keeney said.

Locks need to be de-iced in order for vessels to pass through. “We don’t have any locks that are closed down… but there are impacts affecting the locks,” said Samantha Heilig, public affairs specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

With portions of both the Illinois and Mississippi rivers frozen, there was less water flowing downstream. On the Mississippi River at St. Louis, water levels next week were expected to reach the lowest point in about four years, according to the National Weather Service.

— Julie Ingwersen is a commodities correspondent for Reuters in Chicago; additional reporting by Michael Hirtzer.

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Corn and wheat futures also declined in thin trade between the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.

Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures settled down 10-3/4 cents at $9.56-3/4 per bushel after dipping to $9.55, the contract’s lowest since Aug. 31 (all figures US$).

March corn ended down 1-3/4 cents at $3.52 a bushel and March wheat fell 1/4 cent at $4.27-3/4 a bushel.

Soybeans declined as traders monitored crop weather in South America. Conditions remained largely favourable in Brazil, the world’s biggest soy exporter, while much-needed showers were forecast this weekend in parts of Argentina, the No. 3 producer.

“People want to talk up the iffy weather in Argentina. But the bottom line is that Brazilian weather is super. If Argentina does have some losses, it looks like Brazil is going to offset those losses,” said Tom Fritz, a partner with EFG Group in Chicago.

Brazil’s oilseed processors’ association, Abiove, last week left its forecast of Brazil’s 2017-18 soybean crop unchanged at 109.5 million tonnes, second only to the record-large 2016-17 harvest of 114 million tonnes.

Additional pressure on CBOT soy futures stemmed from worries that more stringent quality rules on Chinese soybean imports starting in 2018 could stall U.S. soy sales to the world’s largest buyer.

Corn futures fell in sympathy with soybeans, halting a six-session climb in the CBOT March corn contract.

Wheat was lower but choppy, underpinned by short-covering and ongoing concerns about potential crop losses from cold weather in the U.S. Plains and Midwest that could damage dormant winter wheat crops.

Temperatures in the southern Plains could drop below 0 F (-18 C) early next week, MDA Weather Services meteorologist Don Keeney said.

“I do think we will get below 0 F in a good portion of Kansas, and there will not be much in the way of snow cover ahead of that,” Keeney said.

Investment funds were holding a near-record net short position in U.S. wheat futures and had sizeable net shorts in corn and soybeans, according to regulatory data released last week.

— Julie Ingwersen is a commodities correspondent for Reuters in Chicago; additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.

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