(Resource News International) — Cash bids for feed barley in Western Canada have managed to hold steady, if not slowly strengthen to some degree, but any upside was seen as being limited.
“There was some pretty good selling of feed barley off the combine during the harvest which helped to weaken bids, but as those operations began to wind down, values were able to gain some firmness,” said Gerald Klassen with GAP Grains in Winnipeg.
Demand from the feedlot sector, meanwhile, has been only slow at best.
Read Also
Klassen: Western Canadian calf markets surge on New World screwworm fears
For the week ending July 12, Western Canadian yearling markets traded steady to $5 higher compared to seven days earlier. Calves weighing 550-800 pounds were quoted $5 lower to as much as $10 higher.
“Most of the feedlots have their immediate needs covered through to mid-November, with some already having 30 per cent of their December/January requirements met,” Klassen said.
Feedlots were said to be taking a “wait-and-see” approach to covering their needs further out, as it was anticipated that more feed wheat and feed barley supplies will be available than first anticipated due to poor growing conditions during the summer and severe frost during the late-season harvest.
Reduced livestock numbers at feedlots also have helped to reduce demand from the feedlot sector in Western Canada, the dealer said.
However, with the harvest in Western Canada winding down, producers are not in as much of a hurry to deliver their feed supplies into the cash market, and have begun to lock up their bins in hopes of cash bids improving, Klassen said.
Continued strength in CBOT corn futures have also been having an upward push on cash bids in general.
Cash bids for feed barley, delivered to the elevator in Saskatchewan, based on Prairie Ag Hotwire data, currently range from $2.58 to $3.27 a bushel, in Manitoba from $4 to $4.57 and in Alberta from $3.62 to $5.
Cash bids for feed barley, delivered to the elevator in Saskatchewan, based on Prairie Ag Hotwire data in the middle of September ranged from $2.75 to $2.95 a bushel, in Manitoba from $3.05 to $3.18 and in Alberta from $2.60 to $3.66.
