What separates the top 2% of farms from everyone else? In this episode, Ryan Denis talks with Evan Shout about crop marketing, farm financials, cash flow, diversification, and the management decisions that actually move the needle. If you farm in Western Canada, this one is packed with real perspective. Guest: Evan Shout of Maverick Ag, Farmer Coach, and The Truth About Ag.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

03:31 Meet Evan Shout

04:47 How farmers react when markets get volatile

09:54 The first big farm coaching aha moments

12:10 Why Farmer Coach exists

14:32 What Maverick Ag actually helps farms with

17:48 Ryan’s crop marketing story

19:39 Why future-focused farms think differently

22:54 The top 20% vs the top 2%

27:31 Why crop marketing is still underused

29:51 Cost of production, cash flow, and selling strategy 38:08 Family, advocacy, and why Evan speaks openly 40:12 Why this conversation needs a part two

Episode 118 of the What the Futures Podcast features meteorologist Bret Walts (BAM Weather) discussing the developing strong-to-potential “Super El Niño,” its definition, and likely impacts on U.S. and Canadian moisture patterns, including continued Kansas winter wheat dryness with a possible pattern change toward more rain later in April/May and a warmer, generally favorable late-April/May outlook for Saskatchewan and Alberta planting. Ryan also shares crop market notes, highlighting wheat strength tied to Kansas dryness, caution on barley and canola, and the importance of being comfortable with hedge and sales positions. The episode then turns to diesel with Lorelei Gress (Fuel Nexus), covering the temporary federal excise tax suspension (April 20–Sept. 7), how Fuel Nexus’ pre-purchase program and delivery works, pricing transparency, and an additional short-term discount promotion.

00:00 Episode Preview

04:37 Positive Moments And Vacation

08:30 Wheat And Canola Markets

11:45 Weather Talk With Bret

17:17 Prairie Spring Outlook

24:07 Weather Wrap And Marketing

27:05 Fuel Guest Introduction

30:12 What Fuel Nexus Does

39:06 Pre Purchase Discounts

46:00 Fuel Myths Busted

50:46 Locked In Price Promise

58:11 Eating Your Veggies

01:02:37 Final Wrap Up

The host delivers a live grain and energy market update, noting canola slightly higher near 719 on July/November, soybeans up, bean oil lower, KC wheat up about 11 cents on poor hard red winter wheat ratings (around 18% good-to-excellent), and WTI crude down sharply near $95 with the Canadian dollar around 72.97. Prairie cash highlights include a notable shift in Alberta feed barley bids becoming competitive again in the Edmonton region, Lethbridge fall feed barley around 6.30–6.40/bu, malt and feed barley offers in Saskatchewan, old-crop yellow peas at 8.50–9.00/bu, new-crop flax near 16.50, and new-crop green peas around 9.50–10.00. Input prices discussed include NH3 near $1,600/ton in Alberta, urea near $1,300/ton, and diesel about $1.42–$1.44/L plus GST. Headlines include a U.S. naval blockade impacting Iranian imports, improving early Russian winter crop conditions, minor U.S. Corn Belt planting delays, and Brazil’s soybean harvest nearing completion. In discussion with Quintin, they cover chart concerns, managed-money positioning as an alarm bell in veg oils, limited war premium beyond canola, re-owning pre-sold canola on pullbacks, crude oil call-spread hedges, and frustrations in oats where futures gains have not translated to cash prices.

00:00 Live Market Snapshot

00:55 Prairie Grain Highlights

03:13 Input Costs Update

04:00 Geopolitics And Wheat News

05:52 Wheat Market Outlook

07:45 War Premium And Canola

11:26 Re Owning Sold Canola

13:11 Hedging With Crude Options

14:35 Positioning Alarm Bells

19:58 Wrap Up And Next Shows

In episode 117 of the What the Futures Podcast (recorded April 8), Ryan covers a sharp midweek market drop and questions whether a Middle East ceasefire will matter for crop prices, noting markets were already cracking. He compares pre-war and current futures levels, with canola holding gains best while corn and soybeans have erased them, and suggests selling and re-owning risk on paper versus trusting a lasting ceasefire. Ryan updates his crop rankings after raising his fertilizer budget about $40/acre, yet makes minimal price assumption changes (max 3%), with canola still top for margin on his farm, maple peas and flax next, and many cereals and pulses underwater. He discusses 2026 marketing “baskets” (patience, opportunistic, forgiving), shares strategy reminders to review recent hedges and sales, and outlines a detailed farmer meeting agenda covering wins/losses, contracts, hedges, market outlook, cash flow, workflow, future crop plans, and inputs.

00:00 Markets Tank This Week

00:28 Podcast Intro

04:08 Don’t React On Down Days

05:37 Tooth Fairy Break

13:14 Crop Rankings And Fertilizer

24:00 Hat Design Contest

30:48 Meeting Agenda Basics

38:43 Inputs Fuel Logistics

42:02 Wrap Up Veggies Checklist

44:57 Final Sign Off

Grain markets look bullish right now… but something isn’t adding up. In today’s Cuppa Coffee, we break down why oil is driving markets higher, yet wheat, canola, and other crops aren’t reacting the way they should.

What you’ll learn:

- Why this rally feels uneasy

- The impact of oil prices on grain markets

- What a “blow-off top” means for canola

- Why wheat isn’t reacting to bullish news

- The real risk behind Middle East headlines

- Fertilizer and oil price implications

- What farmers should be watching right now

Featuring: Trent Klarenbach https://www.klarenbachresearch.ca

Subscribe for weekly market breakdowns: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefutures #GrainMarkets #Canola #Farming

Listen to the show on the go. https://open.spotify.com/show/3xz7OvO7P0WDW8mAx25L1y?si=bd51356530834599 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/what-the-futures/id1715185428

‍ Follow on Instagram and X for more market insights. https://www.instagram.com/whatthefuturespod/ https://x.com/wtfuturespod

Email Ryan: [email protected]

What the Futures Podcast Website: https://www. whatthefuturespodcast.ca

Thanks to our Sponsors

John Deere https://operationscenter.deere.com/

UPL https://www.uplcorp.com/

BrettYoung https://brettyoung.ca/

In episode 116 of What The Futures, Ryan welcomes Allison Thompson of The Money Farm for her debut to break down USDA acreage expectations, market volatility and technical levels in wheat, and what early fertilizer bookings and rotation decisions may mean for corn, soybeans, and expanding crops like canola and sunflowers, including a canola acreage jump to 2.685 million. Ryan also answers Cuppa Coffee questions on canola carry and thin liquidity, payback on on-farm fertilizer and fuel storage, the Lunchbox Crew community, and diesel hedging via heating oil or crude. James Mitchell of Crop Management Network then focuses on domestic Western Canada fertilizer, warning of spring allocation, plant turnarounds, tight urea/phosphate, potential multi-day delays, and considerations like UAN availability and summer fill risks amid global supply constraints and export restrictions.

00:00 Show Preview

04:54 Positive Moments Update

08:24 Cuppa Coffee Q And A

09:16 Canola Carry And Spreads

11:08 Fertilizer And Fuel Storage

17:05 Lunchbox Crew Explained

19:37 Hedging Diesel Costs

21:44 Allison Joins The Pod

21:56 Market Technicals And Pullbacks

25:29 USDA Acreage Report Breakdown

38:39 Eating Your Veggies Tips

42:50 Fertilizer Supply Reality

45:05 Allocation and Bottlenecks

46:44 Plant Outages and Turnarounds

53:56 Summer Fill Global Risks

01:01:58 Final Advice and Sign Off

The EPA just handed canola its biggest biofuel win in history, and most farmers haven't caught up to what it means yet. Canola oil demand for U.S. biomass-based diesel is projected to more than double, with massive implications for Canadian producers. This week on Cuppa Coffee, Ryan is joined by Susan Stroud from NoBullAg.com to break down the EPA's final Set 2 renewable fuel standard ruling, Indonesia's surprise B50 biodiesel mandate, and why the global vegetable oil market just got dangerously tight.

Check out Susan's work: https://www.NoBullAg.com

This week's sponsor: Agi3. Forward Protect insurance for canola. Lock in profits at https://agi3.ai/

New here? Cuppa Coffee airs live every Tuesday.

Subscribe and hit the bell for weekly grain market insights for Canadian and U.S. farmers.

Catch Friday's episode where Ryan asks: Am I crazy for considering buying nitrogen for 2027?

⏰ Timestamps

00:00 Morning Market Snapshot

00:41 Wheat Price Rant

02:00 Key Headlines Ahead

03:03 Prairie Gopher Control

04:02 Indonesia B50 Biodiesel

07:22 War and Market Uncertainty

08:42 USDA Acres Expectations

09:30 EPA Rule Canola Wins

14:20 Why Prices Sold Off

16:13 2028 Policy Wildcards

19:57 Bullish Cards Left

21:58 Wrap Up and Farmer Notes

Listen to the show on the go.

https://open.spotify.com/show/3xz7OvO7P0WDW8mAx25L1y?si=bd51356530834599

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/what-the-futures/id1715185428

In episode 115 of the What The Futures Podcast, Ryan is joined by Mark and Kent from BrettYoung to discuss forage crops, including seed availability, planning timelines, and BrettYoung’s forage establishment guarantee, which offers 100% seed replacement for orders placed before April 1 in the event of natural disasters. They cover common establishment risks such as frost, wind erosion, and increasing gopher damage, and stress the importance of early planning, proper seeding depth, moisture, seed-to-soil contact, and scouting. The conversation also includes cover crop guidance (notably oats and low cereal seeding rates), fertility timing for different nutrients, and herbicide options for early weed control. They highlight BrettYoung’s forage guide and online selector tools, discuss custom versus stock blends, and note that forage seed supply varies annually by weather and production regions.

00:00 Show kickoff and agenda

00:38 Market recap and geopolitics

01:35 Farm talk and episode setup

03:01 Forage guarantee deadline

05:27 Meet Kent and Mark

06:52 Seed availability and planning

10:42 Choosing varieties and blends

13:16 Establishment and agronomy tips

19:48 Forage Guide and favorites

24:08 Plots and seed supply realities

26:50 Forages as rotation crop

29:04 Wrap up and marketing outlook

Markets are moving fast again this week — oil volatility, canola pressure, and potential biofuel policy shifts are shaping farmer decisions right now. In this Cuppa Coffee episode, Ryan breaks down what’s happening in grain markets and what it could mean for your next move. Sponsored by:

✔️ https://www.agi3.ai (Forward Protect Insurance – protect your contracts)

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – What’s moving markets this week

00:08 – Canola opportunities & forward contracting strategy

00:28 – Market open: canola, soybeans, wheat, corn, oil

01:30 – Weekly pattern: oil, war headlines & market reactions

02:00 – Why oil dropped (and why it matters)

03:00 – The Monday reset pattern in markets

03:30 – Geopolitics + weekend volatility explained

04:00 – Biofuel policy expectations (White House event)

04:30 – What farmers should be watching this week (Continue with Q&A section once clipped precisely)

Listen to the show on the go. https://open.spotify.com/show/3xz7OvO7P0WDW8mAx25L1y?si=bd51356530834599

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/what-the-futures/id1715185428

In episode 114 of the What the Futures Podcast, Ryan returns after a missed Friday show, shares community fundraising that reached $7,000 for the perinatal bereavement program at Lois Hole Hospital and the Briar Patch community preschool, and promotes the April 11 hat design contest with UPL and the Canadian Center for Agricultural Wellbeing. He talks with Steven from Simple Hedge about extreme market volatility, why biofuels have increased the correlation between energy and oilseeds, and how a crude oil move to $120 or $140 could translate through ULSD and soybean oil into higher soybean and canola prices, alongside using options for downside protection amid tough basis. Ryan then interviews Derryn of 33seven on farm continuity planning, including a five-module process, using leveraged life insurance and real estate concepts, and his advocacy to update Canada’s tax rollover rules to include nieces and nephews. Tyler Yaremchuk joins to discuss NHL trade deadline winners/losers, playoff races, and early Blue Jays outlook. Ryan closes with crop marketing takeaways and concerns about a potential canola blow-off top.

00:00 Big Oil Big Canola

00:57 Missed Episode Update

05:37 Meet Steven Simple Hedge

06:46 Wild Markets Merchant Life

11:03 Simple Hedge Tools Education

16:06 Biofuels Energy Link

18:24 Crude To Canola Math

27:48 Producer Risk Playbook

37:48 Eating Your Veggies Tips

42:28 Meet Derryn 33seven

45:46 Farm Continuity Planning

50:04 Estate Equalization Basics

50:30 Will Review Essentials

50:54 Freezes Trusts Protection

51:43 Tying The Plan Together

52:18 Why Farmers Avoid Planning

53:19 Three Core Continuity Goals

55:36 Moose Jaw Tax Buzz

56:58 Leverage Insurance Strategy

01:12:54 Wrap Up And Sponsor Read

01:14:30 Tyler Joins Hockey Talk

01:29:07 Crop Marketing Blow Off Top

01:32:32 Final Sign Off