Glacier FarmMedia — Global barley production in 2025/26 is forecast to increase by 2.5 million tonnes in 2025/26, with larger crops in the European Union and Russia more than countering smaller crops elsewhere, according to the latest estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture.
In it’s June report, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service pegged world barley production in 2025/26 at 145.973 million tonnes. That compares with an earlier estimate of 145.798 million tonnes and the year-ago level of 143.472 million tonnes.
The largest adjustment on the year was a three million-tonne increase in the European Union barley crop, to 53.3 million tonnes.
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Canadian barley production in 2025/26 is forecast at 8.200 million tonnes by the USDA, which would be in line with the 8.144 million tonnes the agency has for Canada’s 2024/25 crop and slightly above Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s forecast of 8.080 million tonnes.
World barley carryout stocks are forecast to narrow to 18.277 million tonnes by the end of the 2025/26 marketing year, from 19.876 million tonnes in 2024/25.
Canada’s 2025/26 barley ending stocks are forecast at 696,000 tonnes by the USDA, which would be above AAFC’s current forecast of 600,000 tonnes.
Prairie pricing
Feed barley into Lethbridge, Alta., was priced at C$315 to C$320 per tonne as of June 6, according to the Alberta government’s weekly market review. That was steady on the week. Delivered corn prices dipped by about C$2 per tonne, coming in at roughly C$308 per tonne into Lethbridge.
