A great deal of money is at stake over the grading of this year’s lentil crop. On top of the disease issues, wet harvest weather is causing bleaching and sprouting and wrinkled seed coats. Top quality product is going to be in short supply so there are large price spreads between the grades. There’s going to be some ugly looking samples and the downgrading will likely be the worst in the large green lentils. Right now, prices of around 30 cents a pound are being quoted for both No. 1 and No. 2. An Extra 3 large green lentil falls to a price of around 25 cents while a No. 3 slips all the way to around 20 cents. The difference between the top two grades and a number 3 is about 10 cents a pound – a whopping $6 a bushel. On a 25 bushel per acre lentil crop, that’s a difference of $150 an acre. On red lentils, the top two grades are being quoted in the 24 to 25 cent a pound range and that’s the quality you want to achieve because on the Extra 3 grade, price quotes are around 15 cents. On No. 3 red lentils, prices drop by a further cent or two. Every rain delay is costing lentil growers a small fortune. Note that prices will differ between the various buyers and prices are likely to change rapidly in the current environment. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: agricultural products, agricultural services, crop protection, custom application, disease, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, grading, large green lentils, lentil crop, lentil prices, lentils, precision agronomics, red lentils, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, wet harvest
Tomorrow, August 20, is going to be a big day for Canadian grain markets. Statistics Canada will be coming out with its estimate of field crop production for each of the grains, oilseeds and specialty crops. This is a bigger deal than usual because there’s so much uncertainty over how much was actually seeded this spring and how much of what was seeded has been flooded out. Stat Can’s estimate of crop area came out on June 23, but it was based on a survey conducted weeks earlier. Producers were unable to seed all the acres they had intended, so the estimates bore little resemblance to reality. On top of that, continuous rains flooded a lot of seeded land and some crops were hit harder than others. On many crops, Western Canadian production has a big impact on prices. Tomorrow’s Stat Can report could be a market mover in canola, oats, flax, lentils, mustard and canaryseed. The price moves could be positive or negative depending upon how the Stat Can numbers vary from trade estimates. With so much uncertainty on seeded acreage, market surprises are much more likely than usual. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agricultural services, Canadian grain markets, Canaryseed, Canola, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, fertilizers, field crop production, financial solutions, flax, grains, lentils, mustrad, oats, oilseeds, precision agronomics, soil fertility, specialty crops, Statistics Canada, Variable Rate Technology
There’s a third product choice for desiccating peas, lentils and chickpeas. Up until now, the only registered choices have been glyphosate and Reglone. Glyphosate provides control of perennial weeds in the crop, but it’s very slow for crop dry down. Reglone provides fast dry down, but in heavy crops it doesn’t always penetrate to the bottom of the canopy. Reglone is also quite expensive. The new choice is CleanStart from Nufarm. It has just received registration. CleanStart has been used as a burnoff at seeding time and in chem fallow. It contains glyphosate as well as a Group 14 herbicide called carfentrazone. The glyphosate will provide perennial weed control and it’s a systemic product that will keep working to dry the crop. The carfentrazone will provide a faster dry down than glyphosate alone. It’s important that producers use only registered products for desiccation. When a product is applied close to harvest time, it will typically leave a tiny, but measureable residue in the seed. On registered products, MRLs, Maximum Residue Levels have been established. On unregistered products, any detection of a residue could result in all sorts of problems in the marketplace. If you’re desiccating pulse crops, go with Reglone, glyphosate or CleanStart. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agricultural services, carfentrazone, chickpeas, CleanStart, crop protection, custom application, desiccating, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, glyphosate, lentils, Maximum Residue Levels, MRLs, Nufarm, peas, precision agronomics, Regalone, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology
Saskatchewan crops are later than normal and frost remains a huge threat. However, the earliest seeded crops – crops that were in the ground before the end of April - aren’t very far away from harvest. Over the past couple weeks there has been a marked change in their maturity. I haven’t seen any combines rolling on field peas, but I’ve seen quite a few fields that should be only a week or two away. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are peas being harvested somewhere. The same goes for winter cereals. And there are some marvelous winter wheat crops around. There are also some early seeded canola fields that look absolutely excellent and a few of those are starting to change colour. I have heard of some canola being swathed. I have also heard reports of lentils that will soon be desiccated. However, the lentils I’ve seen in my travels are mostly still very green with only an occasional patch that’s starting to ripen. For the vast maturity of producers in Saskatchewan, any harvest activity is still weeks away, but on early crops in the southern grain belt, harvest is beginning. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agriculutral services, Canola, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, harvest, lentils, peas, precision ag, precision agronomics, Saskatchewan, soil fertility, southern grain belt, Variable Rate Technology, winter cereals, winter wheat
How many acres of lentils will we harvest in Western Canada this year? What will the total production be? Looking at Canada and the world, what are lentil prices likely to do? The latest Pulse Market Report from Saskatchewan Pulse Growers addresses those questions, but there’s another new report most growers won’t have seen that does a really good job of analyzing the lentil market. That report is from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and while government documents are often long on words and short on conclusions, this one impressed me. It pegs our harvested area at 2.8 million acres. That’s up from last year’s 2.3 million acres, but it’s a lot lower than the intended acreage due the moisture problems this spring. The Ag Canada analysis assumes lower lentil yields this year, so total production is expected to decline on large green lentils while increasing modestly on red lentils. Most interesting is that the report includes price projections. The average producer price in the last crop year for the top grade of large green lentils is pegged at 34 cents a pound. The price forecast for this new crop year is 29 cents. On small green lentils, the price last year averaged 28 cents a pound. A price of 25 cents is expected this year. The red lentil price last year averaged 30 cents. The forecast price for this crop year is 26 cents. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: Ag Canada, ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agricultural services, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, crop protection, custom app, custom application, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, green lentils, harvest, lentil market, lentil prices, lentils, precision ag, precision agronomics, Pulse Market Report, red lentils, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, western canada
It’s a great year for winter cereals, not such a great year for canola, flax and canaryseed. The crop condition ratings in this week’s crop report from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture show that winter wheat and fall rye and looking great. Winter wheat is rated as 33 per cent excellent and 50 per cent good. Only 3 per cent is poor. By contrast, 23 per cent of the canola in the province is rated as fair, 13 per cent is rated as poor and 3 per cent is very poor. Canola is the crop with the lowest ratings, but it’s followed closely by flax, canaryseed and barley. The crop report also provides ratings for each region of the province. The northwestern region of the grain belt has the best crops overall. Canola is particularly strong in the northwest. The poorest crop ratings are in the northeastern grain belt. In that region, only one per cent of the canola is rated as excellent, 31 per cent is good, 33 per cent is fair, 29 per cent is poor and six per cent is rated as very poor. The best lentil crops are in West Central Saskatchewan, where 30 per cent of the crop is rated as excellent and 54 per cent is rated as good. Unfortunately, even most of the crops that are looking good are still one to two weeks behind normal in development. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agricultural services, Canaryseed, Canola, crop condition ratings, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, flax, lentils, precision ag, precision agronomics, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, winter cereals
The PMRA has approved an emergency registration for aerial application of Centurion EC herbicide for control for grassy weeds in broadleaf crops such as canola, flax, field peas, lentils, chickpeas and mustard. The emergency registration for Centurion applies to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This information came as a note from the Alberta Pulse Growers last week. The emergency registration is just for this year and producers are reminded to follow the prescribed pre-harvest intervals. There are already a few products registered for aerial application for grassy weed control in broadleaf crops – products like Assure 11. However, the industry was concerned that there was limited availability of products to deal with this year’s grassy weed situation. In a normal year, in-crop weed control would be over. This year, with so many crops late and with so many weed control issues, another product that can be used aerially to control wild oats and volunteer cereals increases the options available to producers. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: aerial application, agricultural products, agricultural services, Alberta Pulse Growers, broadleaf crops, Canola, Centurion EC, chickpeas, crop protection, custom application financial solutions, Dynagra, emergency registration, fertilizers, field peas, flax, grassy weeds, lentils, Mustard, precision agronomics, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, volunteer canola, wild oats
The difficult growing season in Western Canada has moved many of the grain markets, but wheat, durum and barley prices remain stubbornly depressed. In the latest Pool Return Outlook from the Canadian Wheat Board, new crop wheat with good protein is up a little bit, but durum and barley are unchanged from last month. The CWB points out that the previous two marketing years saw the largest and second largest global production of wheat on record. The 2010-11 marketing year is virtually certain to be the third largest production of all time. Canada is a huge player on the world durum market, but despite our big drop in durum acres, the overall supply of durum is expected to be adequate for the year ahead. Although world stocks are tightening due to our production drop, global values are constrained by an abundance of durum in Europe, along with the depreciation of the euro. It is also EU stocks that are overhanging the designated barley market. So while canola, lentils, canaryseed, oats and even field peas have strengthened in price in recent weeks, there isn’t much good news in the Pool Return Outlook. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: agricultural products, agricultural services, barley, Canadian Wheat Board, Canaryseed, Canola, crop protection, custom application, CWB, durum, Dynagra, fertilizers, field peas, financial solutions, grain markets, lentils, oats, Pool Return Outlook, precision agronomics, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, wheat
What a waste. The seeded acreage report released yesterday by Statistics Canada has almost no value. More than 7,500 Saskatchewan farmers were surveyed for the report, but the survey took place from May 25 to June 3. At the time, seeding was 67 per cent complete and Stats Can just assumed that farmers would end up seeding what they were planning. Instead, seeding progress stalled at about 75 per cent. The Stats Can report says Saskatchewan farmers seeded a record area of lentils and canola, while also increasing the acreage of crops like canaryseed. In reality, the report tells us nothing. Canaryseed, lentil and canola prices wouldn’t be rising if the trade actually believed that acreages had hit the targets. There’s far too much time between when farmers are surveyed and when the information is released. That’s an ongoing problem with the Stats Can reports. And in this case, Stats Can didn’t anticipate very well. Farmers should have been asked what crops they still had left to seed. With the addition of that information, a much more accurate picture of seeded acreage could now be generated. Instead, all the effort has been wasted. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: agricultural products, agricultural services, Canaryseed, Canola, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, lentils, precision agronomics, seeded acreage, seeding progress, soil fertility, Statistics Canada, Variable Rate Technology
All the unseeded acreage coupled with concerns about overall production levels is shaking up some of the markets.
Canola has strengthened to the $9 a bushel range. With canola being short millions of acres, the domestic crushing plants, including the two new ones in Yorkton, must be wondering where they’re going to find enough product to keep busy. Of course, canola can’t get totally out of whack with soybean prices, so there is a limit to how high canola prices can go.
On crops like lentils and canaryseed, buyers are now calling farmers rather than the other way around and there have been some price increases. Canaryseed that was as low at 12.5 cents a pound a few weeks ago is now being quoted at around 15 cents. There is at least one new crop canaryseed bid at over 15 cents.
There’s also a new crop bid of 24 cents for No. 2 large green lentils. That’s probably the best new crop bid of the season. A lot of contracts were signed earlier at 23, 22, 21 and even 20 cents.
It’s an extremely tough year for estimating potential production levels, but the marketplace is worried about shortfalls. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: agricultural products, agricultural services, Canaryseed, Canola, commodities, crop protection, custom application, domestic crushing plants, Dynagra, fertilizers, financial solutions, lentils, precision agronomics, production levels, soil fertility, unseeded acreage, Variable Rate Technology
