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September to Remember for Ontario Farmers
23.09.2010 12:53 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
September isn’t over yet, but it is already likely to go down as a month that will stick in the minds of Ontario’s farmers for a long time.
In many parts of the province, corn and soybean crops could have done with more August rain to finish them off. When it failed to materialize, yield expectations in most areas pulled back from exceptional but remained average or better. This is still the case today.
The soybean harvest is slowly spreading from the south-western corner of the province, with pockets of activity reported as far east as Toronto. The Ag-Alert market advisory service has reported that results have been good but not great, with some concerns about small seed size in drought stressed areas. To date, soybean harvest progress is probably at least 1014 days ahead of normal. Some fields have now been planted with winter wheat.
More memorable than the quick start to harvest are the prices that are on the table for sales. The November soybean future is in the ballpark of US$10.80/bu. Subtract a basis of 60 under at many elevators and that still makes an attractive C$10.20/bu ($375/tonne). Ports and crushers are closer to $10.60/bu ($389/tonne). That’s more than $1/bu higher than the top prices that were available during the spring and summer.
For corn, only a few Ontario fields have been harvested so far. It is expected that the combines will be flying by early October, however. Most of the crop will mature much earlier than normal. Drying shouldn’t be an issue this year.
In terms of prices, corn growers are also getting a timely pre-harvest rally. With the nearby December corn future trading over US$5/bu, lots of Ontario elevators are posting prices in the area of C$4.20 to $4.25/bu ($165 to $167/tonne). That’s up roughly 40 cents/bu from the top elevator prices seen this summer.
Although some rain is rolling through the province this week, Environment Canada is calling for the return of sunshine by the middle of next week. After that, generally dry conditions should prevail into early October. This suggests that the any current wet weather is better viewed as a disruption than a disaster. If correct, growers may remember this September for all the right reasons: Early crops, decent yields and attractive prices for sales off the combine.
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