The Rural Voice, 1991-02, Page 20SILVA-'SAVip'PORTABLE SAWMILLS
Engineered for Production & Profit
A. Save on time and
transportation costs
A Saw logs on site
QwM)
A Four models to
choose from
A Hydraulic log
turning option
BARFOOTS
WELDING &
MACHINE SHOP
k One man operation
A Do custom work for
others
call for prices & details
Wiarton, Ont.
519-534-1200
Hill AND Hill
FARMS
LIMITED
VARNA ONT.
FOR YOUR
1991 PLANTING NEED
Call us about:
• Maple Glen - 2600 hu
• OAC Scorpio - 2600 hu
• First Line Bravor - 2650
• AC Bravor - 2700 hu
• OAC Musca - 2750 hu
• Maple Donovan - 2750 hu
hu • OAC Dorado - 2850 hu
• Histick Peat Inoculant
Custom Seed Cleaning
Screened bagged corn
for corn stoves available
Contact: Pete Rowntree
HILL & HILL FARMS 233-3218
16 THE RURAL VOICE
GRAIN MARKETS
MARKET JITTERS
With the 1990 crops in the bin, it's
time to figure out a good marketing stra-
tegy in light of events in the Middle East
and Lithuania that have made many mar-
kets jittery. Traders don't know how these
insurrections will ultimately affect grain
prices, so producers in the U.S. and Ont-
ario are reluctant to sell grains. So, basis
levels for some grains have improved.
CORN
Statscan has indicated the Ontario corn
crop is just under 200 -million bushels and
should be more than enough corn to meet
the Ontario demand.
Since the beginning of January, the
basis level for corn has strengthencd by 10
cents a bushel simply because of tight
farmer holding. High participation in the
advance program by Ontario producers has
contributed to this current sentiment but, in
the long run, the corn crop will end up
being sold in a shorter period of time. This
will tend to put pressure on basis Levels
later in the year, either late spring or
summer. Even with the basis improving
this month, producers have barely re-
couped their storage costs and I'm not too
hopeful that further strength in basis levels
will be sufficient to cover future costs.
Producers must be aware that U.S. corn
is very close to being priced into the Ont-
ario processors now and if the Ontario
crop is to be used up, basis will have to
stay in the area of 20 cents over Chicago at
the elevators or U.S. corn will find its way
into Ontario. If storage costs are to be
covered by the market, it will have to
come from the futures which have been
quite flat.
The last USDA report could add some
fuel to the market if the carryover stocks
are less than 15 per cent of total usage,
making the market quite vulnerable to
weather scares in 1991 as the U.S. needs to
have close to an eight -billion bushel crop
to maintain current stocks.
The USDA report lowered export
projections while increasing feed usage.
Many people think that the feed usage
category is being used as a "catch-all" to
correct any errors made in past reports. So
projected carryover figures dropped from
last month and several advisors think this
report signals an end to the bear market
we've seen since mid -summer of 1990.
However, the reversal likely won't come
for a few weeks as exports are still slower
than expected.
In Ontario, feed manufacturers are still
buying corn in a hand to mouth manner, as
they know how much corn was harvested
in 1990, and know they will be able to buy
their requirements later in the year without
too much difficulty.
So, be aware of the direction basis