MarketsFarm — Spot barley prices have received support from last weekend’s snows in southern Alberta, but the major barley-growing regions were mostly spared.
While the cold and wet weather has delayed harvest activity, a promising forecast should allow for harvest to resume in the Red Deer area, where most of the barley crop is located. That harvest activity is sure to put pressure on values again.
This week, spot barley bids delivered to Lethbridge were around $205 per tonne.
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“There’s a lot of crop out there,” said Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. “It’s hard to tell exactly what’s out there.”
Crop quality is not a huge concern, as the area received only about 13 centimetres of snow, according to social media reports.
“The jury is still out, but my guess is the quality probably isn’t as affected as it could have been,” said Motz, noting cold weather doesn’t allow for sprouting, which is beneficial when it comes to crop grading.
Feed wheat quality is less certain, as Motz said they’re still waiting for samples to come in and grades to be established.
Feed wheat prices were between $210-$215 per tonne.
— Marlo Glass reports for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.
