MarketsFarm — Hot temperatures and a lack of precipitation in recent days are helping Alberta growers make significant progress, according to Lethbridge-based Market Place Commodities’ president Jim Beusekom.
“In southern Alberta, (the harvest) is doing just fine,” he said. “We had some rain last week. Some (had) more, some less. Last week limited how much we got done, but this week it’s going full out and it’s going very well. The weather’s great and we’re seeing harvest progress nicely.”
A heat wave last month reduced test weights for both barley and durum wheat, while spring wheat has high protein levels, Beusekom added.
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New-crop barley has been delivered to Alberta feedlots for more than three weeks, with many quickly transitioning to the cereal while also phasing out corn from the U.S.
“The trade is fluid right now. There are decent volumes going on for sure,” Beusekom said of recent feedlot activity.
As demand increases for new-crop feed barley and wheat, Beusekom is also noticing a slow rise in prices.
“The first new (barley) crop traded at roughly $7.50 per bushel in Lethbridge. Now we’re definitely getting close to about $8/bu., so a 50-cent increase in price,” he said. “We’re at a point where the vast majority (of feedlots) are using barley again. As they all switch back to barley, (the price) is back to what it would normally be.”
The high-delivered bid for Alberta feed barley is $8.03/bu., up nine cents from last week, but down 67 cents from last month, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. The high-delivered bid for feed barley in Saskatchewan is $6.60/bu., 60 cents higher than last week but 40 cents lower than last month. In Manitoba, the high-delivered bid is $6.50/bu., steady from last week and 58 cents less than a month ago.
For feed wheat, the high-delivered bid in Alberta is $10.89/bu., down 27 cents from last week and $1.09 from last month. In Manitoba, the high-delivered bid is $9.36, up 14 cents from the week before and down 93 cents from last month. In Saskatchewan, it was $9.25/bu., up 25 cents from last week but down $1.25 from a month ago.
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
