MarketsFarm — More feed barley is reportedly making its way into Alberta cattle rations for the time being as recently-harvested supplies are competitive with corn imports from the U.S.
While nearby demand is keeping the domestic market reasonably steady, more corn will likely start making its way north over the next month.
Feed barley is currently trading in the $320-$330 per tonne area in the Lethbridge area, according to an update from grain brokerage Agfinity. That compares with levels closer to $400 per tonne back in August before the harvest, but still well above bids at the same time a year ago around $240-$250 per tonne.
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“Feed barley prices in Western Canada have now dropped far enough to discourage more imports of U.S. corn and should support more domestic feeding of barley,” Leftfield Commodity Research said in a report compiled for the Manitoba Crop Alliance.
The U.S. corn harvest was nearing the halfway mark in the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture crop report. Meanwhile, U.S. export data shows 741,400 tonnes of U.S. corn sales to Canada already on the books for movement during the current marketing year, which compares with only 25,200 tonnes of outstanding business at the same time the previous year. Canada has imported 45,800 tonnes of U.S. corn during the marking year that began Sept. 1, which compares with 24,700 tonnes at the same time in 2022.
Canada’s barley production was down in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Canada data, although better-than-expected provincial yield reports indicate that the actual crop may end up above the 7.8 million tonnes currently forecast by StatCan.
Canada has exported 234,500 tonnes of barley through the first 10 weeks of the 2023-24 marketing year, roughly half of what moved during the same time the previous year.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.
