The oilseeds ruled the roost last night. Soybeans at Chicago were firmer, ICE canola closed up C$8.60 and Paris rapeseed also put on €3.00 / tonne on the nearby contract. Lower palm oil stocks, good Chinese / US soybean demand and larger than expected US crush data aided prices higher. Canola also has its own issues with possibly 20% of the Canadian crop sitting under snow.

Funds reduced their short position in US soft wheat last week but they did add about 3,000 contracts to their HRW short. Longer term prices for wheat do look range bound but a bunch of wheat has traded in the last week or so with a few big tenders hitting the floor but we need to keep an eye on the big picture and the big picture has a lot of silo’s full of wheat painted on it.

Durum wheat prices in central Saskatchewan look to be unchanged at a high of about C$7.50 / bu on farm. That’s roughly A$275 / tonne. We usually see about $20 – $25 above their on farm price due to varietal and ocean freight advantage.

USDA US crop condition report was out after the close and didn’t hold any surprises for wheat and corn, both had good harvest progress through week. The cotton rating was left unchanged and picking progress is above the 5 year average.