CNS Canada — Western Canada’s feed barley market continues to trade above the key $200 per tonne mark, taking strength from consistent demand and a lower-sized crop in 2017.
“The market has changed (gotten stronger) from last year when high-vomitoxin wheat was trading at a discount,” said Jim Beusekom of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge.
He pegged the feed barley market at $208-$210 per tonne, while feed wheat is around $210-$215.
The two feeds are up against U.S. corn values as supplies from the U.S. are being imported into southern Alberta, he said.
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“The market over the course of the fall has rallied up to where U.S. corn comes into the feed market and that’s where we stand right now,” he said.
Feedlots are using their options right now but still willing to pay the going rate for feed barley and feed wheat.
“If it’s much more than that, though, they’ll switch to U.S. corn,” said Beusekom.
Some feeders, he added, have already brought in corn from the U.S. and are using some of it in their rationing.
Producers who are wondering where the market is going to go should just watch the corn market, he said.
“The market is lockstep with U.S. corn right now,” he said. “Keep that in mind for your upcoming winter price potential.”
— Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
