Feed weekly outlook: Grains see flat demand, price movement

A clearer picture of new-crop corn availability may provide direction

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Published: October 27, 2023

,

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

MarketsFarm — Recent demand for feed grains from feedlots has been in a standstill, according to Erin Harakal, trade manager for Agfinity Inc. at Stony Plain, Alta.

“It’s been flat, probably since the end of September. We haven’t seen any big changes when it comes to demand or prices,” she said. “From what we’ve been hearing, we should see lots of corn expecting to hit the market into the Lethbridge area come November… Everyone’s booked (corn) as they need it and we haven’t seen much getting booked for the New Year quite yet.

Read Also

Detail from the front of the CBOT building in Chicago. (Vito Palmisano/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. grains: Wheat futures rise on supply snags in top-exporter Russia

U.S. wheat futures closed higher on Thursday on concerns over the limited availability of supplies for export in Russia, analysts said.

“When it comes to (barley) prices for November and December movement, we’ve seen it range anywhere from $335 to $340 delivered per tonne.”

Deliveries for both feed barley and feed wheat have also been flat, according to Harakal, with the latter priced at around $330/tonne delivered. Unless there are any sudden changes in exports, she expects corn prices to stay steady as well.

“I think once we get more into November and we get an idea on how (many) cattle-on-feed, we’ll have a good idea on how corn will affect prices,” she said. “But from what it looks right now, (they) will probably remain pretty flat for the next little bit.”

Overall, Harakal doesn’t see anything that would drive feed grain prices up or down over the next few weeks.

“It’s definitely hard to say for the next couple of months going forward. I think until we get an idea of how much (corn) is out there, I think we’ll get a better idea (for prices).”

Delivered feed barley prices in Alberta ranged from $5.75 to $7.51 per bushel as of Thursday, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire, with a decrease of 11 cents from last month and a drop of $2.39 from last year. In Saskatchewan, prices ranged from $5.50 to $5.90/bu., up 10 cents from last month and down $1.71 from last year. In Manitoba, prices were from $6 to $6.01/bu., up 19 cents from one month ago and down $1.24 from a year ago.

For feed wheat, prices in Alberta were from $7.96 to $9.80/bu., down 14 cents from last month and $2.86 lower than last year. In Saskatchewan, prices ranged from $8 to $8.88/bu., down 23 cents from last month and down $3.13 from last year. In Manitoba, the price for feed wheat was $8.10/bu., down 36 cents from last month and down $2.95 from last year.

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

About the author

Adam Peleshaty

Adam Peleshaty

Reporter

Adam Peleshaty is a longtime resident of Stonewall, Man., living next door to his grandparents’ farm. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in statistics from the University of Winnipeg. Before joining Glacier FarmMedia, Adam was an award-winning community newspaper reporter in Manitoba's Interlake. He is a Winnipeg Blue Bombers season ticket holder and worked as a timekeeper in hockey, curling, basketball and football.

explore

Stories from our other publications