WINNIPEG — Alberta cash barley markets continue to stay relatively well-supported in the post-seeding period, according to an industry watcher.
Prices for feed barley are currently hanging in the $190 per tonne range in southern Alberta, according to Allan Pirness of Marketplace Commodities in Lethbridge.
“In the spring we briefly spiked into the $200s, so post-seeding prices have stabilized at these levels.”
Pirness said the spot price for cash barley was $270 July 17, 2013, so conditions have corrected themselves since last year.
“Everybody’s wondering what the effect of reduced barley acres is going to do,” he added, referring to Statistics Canada’s seeded acreage report on June 27. It listed barley acres at 6,089,000 acres, which is down from the 7,082,500 acres planted in 2013.
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Pirness said there are two arguments about what this will mean for the long-term direction of the barley market.
One is that the reduced number of acres will keep prices strong, while the other is that corn and dried distillers grain could return to the region in a much bigger way because they are so cheap. This second scenario would also keep a lid on barley prices.
Pirness said feedlots will be keeping an eye on the situation.
Another development helping feedlots is that the transportation gridlock they faced earlier this year is beginning to loosen up. More trucks have become available in recent days to move feed, he said, which is likely because less grain is moving.
If there’s one element he’d like to change, it’s the weather. Unlike the eastern edge of the Prairies, Pirness said the feedlot region in Alberta could use some rain. There’s lots of humidity and the odd thunderstorm, but it’s still not enough.
“The drylands are going to need another inch or two to carry it through, I would think.”
According to the July 14 weekly feed grain prices at the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, Lethbridge feed barley was selling at $192 per tonne, feed peas were $257 per tonne, feed wheat was $192.00 per tonne and oats checked in at $178 per tonne.
