Winnipeg, March 10 (CNS Canada) – Farmers with oats to sell and end users willing to buy them are far apart on price.
Major U.S. oats customers are well covered for the time being, “with enough to last for a few months worth of milling,” said Ryan McKnight of Linear Grain in Carman, Man.
He added that higher pricing was available from time to time from Canadian millers, but buyers and sellers were generally very far apart on price.
McKnight’s company is at a zero basis relative to the Chicago futures contract, which would normally be considered strong.
However, with the futures trading below US$2 per bushel, the zero basis only works out to about C$2.60 per bushel when the exchange rate is factored in. McKnight said Manitoba farmers wanted at least C$3 per bushel.
He said quality issues with the northern Saskatchewan crop were another issue in the oats market, keeping some supplies out of the regular channels.
Looking ahead, McKnight said many Manitoba farmers had already contracted some 2016 oats area at about $3.25 per bushel for new crop. However, with the softness in the market he expected actual seedings would be down as many producers look to other options, including wheat and pulses.
“I cannot find anybody willing to pay what my customers want right now,” said McKnight. “We need somebody to start buying up some oat futures, to get the price back to levels we can do some business at.”
