MarketsFarm Hosts July Market Outlook Summit

Jul 27, 2021

The MarketsFarm team gave their July weather and market update last week.

Bruce Burnett, the Director of Weather and Markets Information, focused on the drought, and it's impact on the wheat and durum market during the virtual event.

"Certainly, I think we're going to classify 2021 as one of the worst drought years that we've had on the prairies. On par with the 30s, 61, as well as the early parts of 2000 in terms of drought."

He notes during the time when the crop sets most of the yield (through the middle of June to the middle of July) most areas of the prairies have had deficits of more than two inches of rainfall and that stretches from the Peace River region in Alberta all the way down into Manitoba.

He says crops are suffering from moisture stress and yields are dropping.

"Production, I'm currently expecting the lowest since 2007 on spring wheat. The first official glimpse we get from Statistics Canada will be at the end of August."

The US is looking at a significant shortfall in wheat production as the drought continues to impact key growing areas there, with Burnett anticipating a further drop in crop yields for wheat from the previous USDA report, which had put wheat yields at their lowest level since 2002.

For durum, he says, the US markets are already starting to move.

"Prices in the past week have been up between $2 and $4 a bushel, depending on where you are, and who's posting the bids. In terms of just plain elevator bids, U-S $10.40 to $11 per bushel range is available now in parts of North Dakota and Montana. This would translate in Canadian dollars to, you know, over $13 to $14 a bushel, let's say."

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.