MarketsFarm — Feed grain bids in Western Canada continue to come under pressure, as feedlots chew through corn imports from the United States and wait on the new-crop harvest.
“We’re certainly seeing things soften,” said grain trader Shaun Smith of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. Declines in the Chicago futures and good Prairie growing conditions were both weighing on values, he added.
Smith described the current state of the feed market as a stalemate, with feeders trying to push prices lower while famers “are digging in and being patient.”
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Many producers are still feeling the sting of the 2021 drought and are now waiting to see how the 2022 crop fares before doing too much new-crop pricing.
“In years past guys have been more aggressive with how much they want to contract of new crop,” said Smith.
For the spot market, feedlots are “still chewing through corn contracts,” said Smith. He expected most of that corn would be through the system by the end of July, with feeders then transitioning to barley as the new crop starts to come off the fields in August.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
