Wednesday was a nice positive day for our markets. Spot corn closed up 9 1/4, spot soybeans closed up 4 1/4 with harvest soybeans up 10 1/4, harvest winter wheat closed up 14 3/4 and harvest spring wheat closed up 12 1/4. In the overnight trade all of our markets remain on the positive side. Oil closed down $0.07 yesterday at $95.46 per barrel. It is stronger in trading this morning with it now valued at $96.34 per barrel. Our dollar started out yesterday morning at $0.730 US and has trended lower since then. This morning it is currently valued at $0.728 US.
The wheat market led our markets higher as they responded to weather concerns for the majority of US winter wheat growing regions. It seems that analysts are trying to kill the winter wheat crop again based on the current cold weather and this has brought some price optimism to the market. As we mentioned yesterday however Russia is flooding the world market with lower priced wheat which should keep a lid on prices going forward.
For the soybean market it is nice to see that Harvest 2026 prices have rallied back stronger than spot prices since Monday. Remember also that spot prices were down the limit on Monday with harvest prices only down $0.40. Spot prices are being affected more by geopolitical events as compared to harvest prices. Generally this is nice to actually see real supply / demand fundamentals affect prices more then what President Trump says and does on a daily basis.
Corn futures have bounced back the last two days and have recovered most of what they lost on Monday when they were pulled lower by the soybean market. Strength for the corn market is coming from the recent higher energy prices and of course the price rise in the wheat market.
With all the current focus on the conflict in the Middle East and how this will affect costs for North American Farmers with both higher diesel and fertilizer costs the marketplace needs to decide how this will affect planted acres this year. At the end of this month the USDA releases their Spring Planting Intentions Report. It will be interesting to see if there is much of a swing in acreage away from corn to soybeans. This switch would be made to save on input costs. It is also possible that the survey of US Farmers is taking place too early to fully comprehend what the extra costs will be this spring and any swing in acres may come after the survey is taken. Just like everything else in these markets there remains much uncertainty.
Yesterday both the Bank of Canada and the US Federal Reserve held their benchmark interest rates unchanged. In this uncertain times both are waiting to see what economic impact the current situation in the Middle East ends up having on their economies. We should also point out that both countries seem to be going in opposite directions with interest rates. In Canada there seems to be pressure to increase interest rates whereas in the US President Trump is putting pressure on them to decrease interest rates.
Delores Seiter | 613-880-7458
Bob Orr | 613-720-1271
Tony Mitchell | 613-227-2525
Office | 613-489-0956
