Cereal prices are the lowest in years

With the latest drop in the Pool Return Outlook for durum, the price is now projected to be the lowest in five years. The durum PRO dropped by as much as $15 a tonne, leaving the expected Saskatchewan farm gate price at around $4.00 a bushel for No. 1 durum with 12.5 per cent protein. Last crop year, durum was over $8.50 a bushel and the year before that it was nearly $12.50. You have to go all the way back to 2005-06, to find a lower price than the one expected this crop year. Delivery opportunities are also restricted on durum, so it has turned into a real dog. Spring wheat isn’t a lot better. It dropped by up to $5 a tonne in the most recent PRO. The expected Saskatchewan price for No. 1 CWRS with 12.5 per cent protein is about $4.50 a bushel. Last year was $6.50 and the year before that was nearly $8.50 a bushel. Malting barley was unchanged in the latest PRO, but at $3.14 a bushel, it’s depressed too. Later in February, the CWB will come out with its first PRO for the new crop year. The way the cereal market has been going, it’s hard to imagine those new crop PROs being attractive. I’m Kevin Hursh.