WHEAT Quiet markets drift Fresh market features have been lacking this week and, helped by firmer sterling, UK wheat prices have dropped to a four-week low. Consumers have good cover through to the new year and with port stores bulging with imported wheat and maize, any short term price improvement looks unlikely. Bull traders continue to look to R...

WHEAT UK markets UK wheat markets have traded defensively this week. Demand continues to be serviced by the market in an orderly fashion, keeping prices and milling premiums subdued. This comes even as the pace of farm gate selling slows significantly, in part due to the ideal drilling conditions this week. DEFRA figures The market has now had time...

WHEAT  Demand for UK feed narrows premiums Consumer demand for feed wheat leant support to UK prices this week, with futures and physical grain trading up £4-£5 over the five days. Strong demand from the pig and poultry sectors, as well as ruminants, pushed some feed compounders to consider current lower prices as a 'buy.' Pitched against a we...

WHEAT  Slow trade This week's wheat market has moved in a very narrow trading range, seeing no fresh features of note giving any particular price direction. The USDA will publish their quarterly stocks report late this afternoon after we go to print, which is expected to reinforce bearish carry out figures for US grains. Final 2017/18 UK balan...

WHEAT  Market reactions UK markets fought back this week with £5/t gains on London wheat futures, reversing the downward trend seen for the majority of the past month. Global markets galvanised support from the less-than-ideal harvesting conditions in the Russian spring wheat area, as well as dry and unseasonably cold temperatures hitting the ...

WHEAT  USDA report sets a bearish scene; Wednesday's much anticipated USDA report shocked the trade, with significant increases to US corn yields well above the average trade estimates released before the report. Global corn production was also increased to 1,069 million tonnes. Although not directly related to wheat prices, this 35 million to...

World markets: US wheat started the week stronger yesterday, supported by a downgrade to the Australian crop from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) and more speculation about possible Russian export restrictions. US exports are currently running 31% down from last year's pace – a restriction to Russi...

WHEAT  Wheat prices on the slide London wheat futures lost £8 per tonne this week, slipping to seven-week lows as the bullish rivers ran dry. Russia chose not to introduce any restrictions to their wheat exports and this has been the catalyst for a wave of long liquidation on world futures markets. However, it is likely that this issue will re...

World Markets: The US was closed yesterday for their Labor Day holiday, but traded lower on the overnight session following news from Russia that counteracted last week's ideas of export restrictions. The Russian Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday that they do not consider it necessary to introduce export duties or restrictions but they are con...

WHEAT  Price shift predictions The decline in prices over the past fortnight has been halted this week, with UK levels re-bounding some £5/t at the farm gate. A finely balanced UK supply (alongside ongoing concerns about how the global flow of wheat will be maintained from Russia, the current cheapest origin) continues to cause nervousness amo...

WHEAT  UK prices under further pressure London futures fell a further £8/t this week on harvest news and the prospect of heavy imports in the coming months. Until recently, the UK was pricing at import parity in order to balance a tight supply situation and the weight of this is now being felt. Add to this the predictable pressure that comes w...

With some long overdue rain finally dampening seed beds in the past week, oilseed rape drilling is now well underway for many parts of the UK.However, for some of us the fields are already playing host to thousands of OSR plants, well before we've even set to work putting next year's crop in the ground. These early occupants haven't come from the d...

WHEAT  Politics helps wheat prices jump higher Wheat prices have recently enjoyed a major price rally gaining £40/t since the middle of June. Markets have been driven higher by adverse weather impacting on crops and cutting output for most of the world's major exporting countries. However, the USDA report last week triggered a sell off and UK ...

This is a question I am often asked when discussing plans with growers and my most common response is, "Why wouldn't you?" For me, as with any crop, it makes perfect sense to adopt variable rate drilling for OSR. Particularly for helping to create the optimum, even canopy as the correct seed rate can hugely contribute to this. Optimum canopies Toda...

WHEAT  Supportive markets Wheat markets continued the supportive tone for the early part of the week, fuelled by further concerns over production in various regions in the world. Australia is the latest country to further reduce its likely output, with some suggestions of this year's crop being nearer 16 million tonnes versus 21 million last y...

This blog was first featured as an article in the August issue of Three Counties Farmer Since beginning these monthly columns back in March, I think we've experienced almost every weather condition Mother Nature could throw at us. At times I've written this while watching the snow settle ever deeper and the winds get bitterly cold. I've witnessed w...

World Markets US wheat closed slightly lower yesterday, seeing some profit after the recent strong gains. The US winter wheat harvest was put at 90% complete in this week's crop update and spring harvest 13% cut, with ratings down 4% on last week at 74% good to excellent. Corn ratings were seen to decline by 1% to 71% good to excellent, versus 60% ...

WHEAT  Buoyant UK market Another volatile week in the UK grain trade saw November futures hit new contract highs of £195 on Thursday, fuelled by crop issues globally. As a result, we saw a good level of farmer selling for both 2018 and 2019 crop at levels well above the cost of production. Wheat harvest nationally lies at around 40% complete, ...

​Well, harvest is flying! Crops are in the barn much earlier than usual which gives us more time to think about how best to tackle oilseed rape establishment. However, that's not all there is to start planning. Some growers are using this extra time to contemplate companion crops and how they can help bring benefits to their farm.  Companion c...

WHEAT  Volatile UK wheat prices In reaction to further cuts to European wheat crop estimates, speculative trading and consumer short covering lifted the wheat market sharply higher this week. London wheat futures rallied to new contract highs on Thursday, with the November 2018 contract trading above £190.00/t.This was almost £15/t up on the p...