Canada: Feed barley, wheat prices continue downward

As colder temperatures descend onto the Prairies, buying activity for feed barley and wheat was just as frigid, the Canadian Cattlemen reported on January 26.

“A lot of guys are fairly caught up with purchasing,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Inc. in Lethbridge. “You see the prices of wheat and barley start to trickle down a little bit. Corn’s down a little bit, as well. There’s still a pile of unit trains of corn coming down into southern Alberta, but I haven’t seen a real big uptick in people looking to purchase barley and wheat.”

Fleischhauer also mentioned that feed barley prices are at C$420-C$425 per tonne (C$9.14-C$9.25 per bushel) in southern Alberta, compared to C$440-C$443/tonne (C$9.58-C$9.65/bu.) one week earlier.

The high-delivered bid for feed barley in Alberta as of January 25 was C$9.58/bu., steady over the past month, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.

“I think this year until new crop is going to be kind of shaky, up and down, I don’t know where it’s going to go. In terms of price, C$420 (per tonne) is a pretty good price at this time,” Fleischhauer said.

Corn is putting pressure on barley and wheat prices, but other grains are making their way into feedlots, he said.

“There’s been a little bit of an influx of oats coming in lately. I’ve heard some of the feedlots are bringing in oats, for sure,” he said. “Lots of canola meal. There are guys who are buying that as opposed to DDGs.”

The high-delivered bids for feed barley in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are C$8 (steady from last month) and C$7.77/bu. (down five cents), respectively, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.

The high-delivered bid for Alberta feed wheat is C$12.11/bu. (down 27 cents), while in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, they are C$11/bu. (steady and 50 cents lower, respectively).

27 January, 2023