Don’t assume sprouted wheat can only be sold for feed, the Canadian
Wheat Board is urging farmers.
The CWB thinks a market can be found for wheat that is too poor to
grade No. 3 Canada Western Spring wheat, but is better than the Canada
Western Feed classification.
“It can still be used for human consumption in things like flatbreads
and crackers,” said CWB market analyst David Boyes.
“It’s really not a feed wheat quality. It’s better than that.”
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Wheat that will fit into the No. 4 Canada Western Red Spring class can
have some slight sprouting damage, which knocks many crops out of the
No. 3 class.
Boyes said farmers should check carefully with their elevator agent to
see if their wheat can stay above CW Feed. The difference in price is
significant.
No. 4 CWRS in the PRO is priced at $5.82 per bushel at port compared to
$5.14 for CW Feed.
“We want to be selling that wheat in the international market at
milling wheat prices,” he said.
The Prairies traditionally produce huge amounts of No. 1 and 2 wheat,
but this year there will be a lot that falls to No. 3 or lower. Boyes
said that is a problem for farmers who need high prices for high
quality crops, but it won’t hurt the CWB’s marketing program.
“There’s a vast market for medium quality wheat in the world. We won’t
have any problem moving all the wheat this year,” said Boyes.
In the middle of September, the board released updated PRO prices for
malting barley because world prices were rising fast and the board
wanted farmers to see the CWB malting barley pool as a competitive
option to the domestic feed market.
PRO prices are what CWB analysts consider reasonable expectations of
prices they’ll actually receive in the marketplace. Boyes said the
board does not try to attract grain to its pools by forecasting
unrealistic prices.
That means some crops, such as feed barley, will probably stay on the
Prairies rather than be exported by the CWB, as producers find better
paying markets at nearby feedlots to what the board is offering.
“We don’t want to create any kind of a price signal that’s going to
draw grain away from a higher profit area for the farmer,” said Boyes.
“We’re trying to give a price signal that gives an indication of what
we could actually get out there in the world for the grain.”
