MarketsFarm – Despite prices for Western Canadian feed barley and wheat continuing to decline, buyers are not opening their wallets just yet.
Erin Harakal, trade manager for Agfinity Inc. in Stony Plain, Alta., said while growing prospects of a more typical harvest are making cereal crops more affordable, there is still a wait-and-see attitude from grain buyers.
“I definitely think there is a bit more interest when it comes to what’s happening in August, as we get closer to combines going and feedlots realizing how much they are going to need going forward into new crop for September and October,” she said. “I think probably in August we’ll see a bit more demand.”
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Harakal added that preparations for the new crop are already underway.
“Right now, producers are just trying to empty the bins of what they have if they are needing the bin space or some of them are just holding on and just seeing what happens,” she said.
Harakal has heard of purchases for feed barley in the Lethbridge area of C$360 to C$370 per tonne for September and October delivered feed barley, equal to C$7.84 to C$8.06 per bushel.
The high-delivered bid for feed barley in Alberta is C$8.75/bu., down 94 cents from last month, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. In Saskatchewan, the high-delivered bid is C$7.08/bu. (down C$1.92) and in Manitoba, it’s C$7.18/bu. (down C$1.51).
For feed wheat, the high-delivered bid in Alberta is C$12.66/bu. (down C$2.18 from last month). In Saskatchewan, it’s C$10.50/bu. (down C$3.00) and in Manitoba, it’s C$10.08/bu. (down C$2.47).
As for this year’s yields, Harakal believes it will be closer to normal, unlike last year’s drought-decimated crops. That is, if weather conditions hold.
“Some areas it might be better than normal, but I think there will be normal yields compared to last year, when we were half of normal. Hopefully, we should be closer to (having) normal yields in most areas,” she added.
