New crop PROs are ugly

It’s not surprising, but it is disheartening. The Canadian Wheat Board has released its first new crop price estimates for wheat, durum and barley. In most cases, the prices expected in the new crop year are even lower than the prices expected for the current crop year. After deducting average Saskatchewan freight and handling, No. 1 CWRS wheat with 13.5 per cent protein is expected to be worth $5.00 a bushel in the current crop year. The new crop Pool Return Outlook is $4.83 a bushel. On No. 1 durum with 13 per cent protein, the PRO in this crop year is $4.02 a bushel. For next crop year, that is expected to drop to $3.88. Two-row malting barley has a current crop year PRO of $3.14 a bushel. That is expected to slide marginally to $3.08 a bushel next crop year. The start of the new crop year is more than five months away. A lot could happen to improve price prospects. At this point, however, the price outlook on all the cereal crops can best be described as ugly. I’m Kevin Hursh.