While it has nothing to do with razors or clean-shaven men smiling at themselves in the mirror while their wives plant smooches on their soft, baby-bottom faces, our opening newsletter segment often has little to do with grain marketing… So! We might as well talk about it for a minute or two and, if we’re lucky, do so without ruffling too many feathers…
Like Agfinity, I strive to be unbiased, genuine and transparent in everything I do! But I must admit, when scrolling through Facebook, it isn’t always easy being unbiased. Every meme, political post, picture and story solicit our opinion. Our reaction. Our comment. Facebook also doesn’t care if you’ve had a bit to drink or had a hard day… it only cares that you interact! And after that interaction, if you’re lucky, you might even earn the opportunity to defend yourself! Yippee!
I try my best to not offend anyone (on purpose). When I was a boy, a girl playing basketball with me and my friends started to cry because she wasn’t having a good time “keeping up with the boys”. How did I respond…? Well, I asked her to try and not get any tears on the basketball… I know! It was mean! Especially for a kid as sensitive as I was … But I had hoop dreams! I didn’t care if you were male, female, young, old, small or big. If you were on the court, I was coming at you with everything I had!
Now, I’m a dad with two daughters and a son. All three of them sensitive beings. Though “boys will be boys“, I also understand that men – are to be men. When I play games with my kids, I often will ease up. I want to make sure they are improving and enjoying themselves. And if things go poorly and they cry, I let them cry. At home, when I do the dishes or occasionally put the laundry away, I do these things for Michelle. She does way more around the house than I do and doesn’t need to say thank you, but that’s not why I do it. Her happiness matters to me. If doing a few of these things will make small improvements in her day, I want to do them.
I am not sacrificing my masculinity for doing these things. Nor am I saying other men are scumbags if they act differently. I am merely trying to be a man who can look at himself in the mirror and smile. Genuinely. Regardless of whether my face is baby-bottom soft… And, as a side note, those wife-smoochies are much more likely to occur when doing these sorts of things over shaving! #TipoftheDay #KeepTheBeard
When I came across the Gillette ad Monday evening, I didn’t check to see what others thought about the ad or if it was offensive to swarms of men who – like me – are sensitive and don’t always know how to express themselves. I just shared it. And I did so because it was worth sharing. If my dad had Facebook, I bet he would have shared it too. And his dad, my Grandpa Laverne, who is on Facebook (it must skip a generation) would probably share it too!
You see, something very manly runs in our family. The men are not ashamed of their tears. And as my Grandpa shared on his 90th birthday this first of January, we also like to make ourselves understood. These two things are a powerful combination, and not just because we can afford to cry if ever we’re misjudged.
Though I admire Gillette’s efforts, at the end of the day, it’s not a company telling us how we should live that will transform the world, it’s us deciding for ourselves.
If you’ve been a longtime reader of the Agfinity newsletter, you probably know it’s been our goal to help you confront any sadness creeping in and around the farm and your day-to-day life. Being a man isn’t easy. And being a farmer, male or female, is likely even harder. But you know, a farmer with thanksgiving in his/her heart and tears in his/her eyes is about the “manliest” thing I can think of in this world…
The integrity infused into the prairie ag world is second-to-none, and I believe the generational trickle-down effect has everything to do with it. Whatever your role(s) might be on the farm, we applaud you and thank you for raising up the next generation of agricultural, community leaders! We’re certainly going to need them in the days ahead.
Barley:Over the past few weeks barley prices have increased and then cooled off a tad. Barley was trading into feedlot alley at $260/MT, a number many buyers were hitting, but not happy about. Since that peak, for the January – February time frame, that number has dropped to the mid-to-low $250’s and many feedlots have substantial coverage through March. The price of corn also dropped, causing downward pressure on domestic barley markets.
Wheat: Milling quality wheat bids softened mildly in part due to a strengthening Canadian Dollar. Durum, however, was on the rise as more buyers come to the table. Reports are that exports out of the Black Sea region are slowing down, which could prompt a decrease in global supply. Feed Wheat bids in Alberta have remained solid without a large change over the past few weeks.
Oats:The market for both feed and milling oats has trended mildly upwards. The beginning of creep feeding as well as rising barley/wheat prices has many buyers looking to purchase feed oats. Milling prices have been heard as high as $4 a bushel for excellent quality oats.
Canola:The Canola market continues to trend downwards. This is connected with soybeans pricing taking a walloping. The soybean plunge is due to one of the world’s biggest buyers (China) being inactive in the global market. Tensions between China, Canada and the USA is not helping the matter. There is room for the market to go lower still. Canola exports are down 1% (400,000MT).
Peas:The gradable feed pea market has remained solid. $7 at the bin is reachable for most parts of Alberta on #2 Yellow’s. The feed pea market has seen some life recently, in part due to low supply. Most of the feed grade peas this year also come with higher moisture.
Like a drone over grain markets – www.Agfinity.com
The Feed Buyer Brief – by Joseph Billett
Happy New Year! We seemed to come into it running. Many buyers stepped into the new year hoping to see a seller looking for cash in the new tax year and willing to sell. Unfortunately they received the bull and nothing but the bull. Buyers are really needing to stretch right now to hit the sellers price expectation which seems to be predominantly number driven and in-the-farmers’-jeans focused, rather than market trend. Many feeders are scrambling to find feed peas, oats, fabas, wheat and barley and none of those are coming easy. Resellers and end users are now focusing on Feb – March shipment and are willing to pay carry with a marginal premium for April – May hoping to get enough coverage to not force a higher premium when seeding and road ban season comes.
Sellers Note: Remember the freight? $5.00/bu Barley and $6.00/bu Feed Wheat seem to be attainable, but remember that there are other boxes that you want checked as well, such as shipment time, quality tolerance and certain payment terms. Sometimes, when all is said and done, could $4.98/bu and $5.97/bu still work for you? … and the biggest sticking point in all of this might be the freight rate. Let us work with you to find the best solution and check all the boxes!
– FEED BARLEY @ the bin: Jan-Feb: $4.90-4.95/ bushel Mar-July: $4.95-5.10/ bushel– FEED WHEAT @ the bin: Jan-March: $5.90-6.10/ bushel April-June: $6.15-6.20/ bushel *$0.25-0.50/bu premium available for wheat with high protein (13%+) / good falling numbers (300+).
– #1/2 CPSR WHEAT: Jan-July: $6.50-6.80/ bushel #1/#2 HRS Wheat: Jan-June: $6.80-7.10/ bu picked-up based 13-13.5% protein.
– 2CW OATS @ the bin (Subject to sample): Jan-March: $3.20-3.30/ bushel April-August: $3.30-3.40/ bushel – 3CW OATS @ the bin: $0.10-0.25/bushel discount to 2cw bids. – FEED OATS: Jan-March: $2.50-3.00/ bushel, depending on quality
– 2CW GREEN PEAS @ the bin: Max 3% bleach: Jan-March: $10.00-10.10/ bushel
– 2CW YELLOW PEAS @ the bin Jan-March: $7.25-7.35/ bu
– FEED PEAS @ the bin Jan-March: $6.50-6.55/ bushel
– 2CW FABAS @ the bin: Jan-Feb: $10.40/ bushel – 3CW FABAS @ the bin: Jan-Feb: $9.15/ bushel – SAMPLE FABAS @ the bin: Jan-Feb: $8.90/ bushel – FEED FABAS @ the bin Jan-Feb: $6.50/ bushel
– CANOLA @ the bin (as of January 16th) Jan-March: $10.50-10.65/ bushel April-July: $10.80-11.00/ bushel
“No matter who I talk to at Agfinity, you always take care of things. You guys are so great to work with!”
– James Taylor, Leslieville, AB
“Other buyers call me, and I always tell them that the best service I get is from Agfinity, and that you guys are who I market my grain through.”
– James Thompson, Millet, AB
“Most of our marketing decisions are based off of your newsletter! We really appreciate you sending it out!”
– Phillip & Glenda Collinge, Lloydminster, SK
“I really like the personal touch in the newsletter! Thanks for sending that out!” – Jim Majeski, Camrose, AB
“I really enjoy working with you guys and the transparent service you provide!”
– Kurt Boese, Neilburg, SK
“For the past seven years I’ve been dealing with the Agfinity group and what a fantastic group of people they are. From number 1 to feed grain and canola. All the buyers at Agfinity can Make it happen. Fast turn around times on every thing. Movement, payment, and the inbetween that all of us farmers don’t see or care about. Good job to the Agfinity crew and keep on buying our grain.” – Drann Hogg, Huxley, AB
“Thanks for continuing to send out a newsletter. I read right through it every time, and look forward to crop price updates.”
– Orest Hulowski, Perryvale, AB
“Enjoy reading your newsletter and price updates keep them coming, good job.”
– Peter L .Gross, Standard, AB
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