The relative value of gold to other commodities, including wheat, is at an all-time high. For example, one ounce of gold was worth almost 72 barrels of oil at the end of November 2025, up from 7.4 barrels in the same month of 2020. Over the same period, an ounce of gold went from being worth about 100 bushels of wheat to 750. What does this inverse relationship indicate?
Imagine having a clear, weekly snapshot of which ports are signing contracts, volume of grain movement and shifts in global demand. Saskatchewan ag groups say this kind of visibility could sharpen the marketing strategies of Canadian farmers, improve risk management and produce stronger outcomes. In today’s fast-paced marketplace, farmers have limited information on their grain’s ultimate destination once it enters the supply chain until weeks or months later. They may be unaware of potential changes in supply and demand until it’s too late to take advantage.
Price & Data Quotes (PDQ) is a Prairiewide daily cash bids website launched in September 2015 by the Alberta Wheat Commission. To celebrate the price discovery platform’s tenth year, Alberta Grains asks users to fill out a short survey located on the PDQ homepage at pdqinfo.ca. The survey will remain open until Sept. 30, and the responses will be used to improve the service.
When I became a market analyst 20 years ago, the world of agriculture seemed simpler. Today, I must admit to a deep frustration. My favoured method of analysis is so-called fundamentals. Calculating the difference between supply and demand is a matter of real-world mathematics. If this difference narrows, as measured by ending stocks, prices should respond favourably (bullish). If the surplus expands, prices come under pressure (bearish). A key component of fundamental analysis is having strong confidence in reliable data; the analysis is only as good as the underlying inputs. I have confidently relied on good data most of my career.
Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) has long raised concerns the deal may negatively impact Canadian farmers. The organization has cited warnings from the Canadian Competition Bureau and a University of Saskatchewan report that determined farmers will take a $770 million revenue loss should the deal go through without divestment from G3.
Canada rarely gets the respect it deserves as a steady and dependable crop exporter. Despite this solid record, in the 2024/25 marketing year, export prospects for raw unprocessed canola, wheat and durum are mixed.
While there’s no Tinder for business, Bunge and Viterra hope they’ve found the perfect match. The two companies announced their intent to merge in June 2023. Viterra brings more than 80 Canadian grain-handling centres to the blossoming relationship, along with sales to more than 70 nations. For its part, Bunge is the world’s largest processor of oilseeds, with 300 operations in 40 countries. Of course, with a celebrity wedding comes major scrutiny.
Today, AI and its corollary of machine learning have recently become buzzwords everywhere, including agriculture. The implementation of both requires data. It is readily available but, in the area of harvest data, sorely lacks veracity.
The market, defined here as the elements that converge to establish the price for any given commodity or service, has always been hard to discern. Its inscrutable nature promotes the dream of building a “black box” technology that removes human fallibility and emotion from the equation.
Grain and oilseed markets have not been boring in 2022/23. In the run-up to spring seeding, the war in Ukraine sparked substantial price increases. Simultaneously, inflation sprang from the embers of the COVID lockdowns and accompanying public policy. Already vulnerable populations faced increased concern about food shortages. Input costs soared due to logistical problems and supply concerns.
