MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley have swung a little higher over the last week — but it’s not due to feedlots needing a lot of the cereal, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta.
Barley prices, he said, were $420-$424 per tonne delivered into Lethbridge, with offers as high as $445 as of Thursday. A week ago offers were around $430-$435/tonne.
“There are not a lot of high-consumption feedlots using barley at the moment. It’s a thinly-traded market currently, which makes for the realization of a $10 swing could be something as simple as somebody needing the coverage versus what the true market is,” Motz said.
Read Also

Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
He said it’s a similar story for feed wheat, with most feedlots not buying a great deal, as feed mills are doing most of the purchases right now. Prices were $450-$460/tonne delivered into ‘Feedlot Alley’ and offers were $465-$470, in what also has been very light trading.
Motz noted demand for corn has also slowed down, with a small amount for April and May.
“There’s not a lot of tonnage trading corn because the forward business has been so extensive,” he said.
Until recently, however, corn supplies had been touch-and-go, with deliveries from the U.S. often arriving by train literally in the nick of time.
“We’ve been dealing with rail delays since the beginning of the program. I think there’s a maybe a little bit of a buffer there now. For a while it was very much hand-to-mouth,” Motz said, noting one day’s missed arrival meant several feedlots would have been out of corn.
— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.