E-Malt.com News article: 1955

Canada: Cash barley prices across Western Canada vary widely, but are within expectations, industry sources said on December 19. In Manitoba, producers are receiving between $2.30 and $2.40 per bushel. Saskatchewan barley prices are sitting around $2 per bushel. In Alberta, Canada's highest consumer of feed barley, producers receive about $2.75 per bushel.

Current variations in barley cash prices on the Canadian Prairies are mostly due to location and transportation costs, however, livestock concentration and Canadian dollar values also play a role in differing barley returns across Western Canada, industry sources say.

ProFarmer Canada analyst Mike Jubinville says there's nothing unusual about the differences in barley prices in the Prairie Provinces, noting that high barley production in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is driving down the price of barley in those provinces.

"If you want barley, you've got to ship it all the way from Manitoba or Saskatchewan to southern Alberta, and there's a cost to that," Jubinville said. "You'll always have a premium in southern Alberta, and that premium is right around where it should be."


19 December, 2003