WINNIPEG — Oat quality is mixed across Western Canada as moisture damages not-yet-harvested grain, one buyer says.
“Any oats that are still out there that have had substantial amounts of rain are likely not going to make milling spec,” said Ryan McKnight of Linear Grain Inc.
The portion of production usable for the mill market is yet to be determined, he added.
About 75 percent of Saskatchewan’s oats have been combined, according to the province’s latest crop report for the week ending Oct. 10.
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Oats that Linear Grain has bought from southeastern Saskatchewan are of good quality, McKnight said, but producers in northern Saskatchewan may have issues.
“Locally, here in Manitoba, we usually have troubles with test weight and stuff like that, but it’s OK,” he said.
The Canadian oat market is generally weak because of a bearish grain supply situation, but farmers won’t sell below certain prices, McKnight said.
That means buyers who are short have to shell out anyway.
He pegs that price level at around $3 in Manitoba and $2.50 to $2.75 in Saskatchewan.
“If somebody needs oats, you can’t really buy them cheaper in any sort of volume, so you have to pay that,” McKnight said.
