MarketsFarm — With the Christmas break come and gone, more grain is being delivered to feedlots, according to one Lethbridge trader.
Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Ltd. said that despite the holiday season, in which lighter activity is expected, there was still some movement in feed grain prices. Wheat and barley were both valued at $440 per tonne ($11.97 and $9.58 per bushel, respectively).
“Everything was a little bit cheaper about a week ago. Barley, wheat and corn,” he said. “But (they’ve) kind of went up a little bit here, $5 or $8 over the last week, for sure.”
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He attributed the small rise in prices to difficulties related to colder weather.
“Across the provinces, a lot of farmers can’t get their augers going, trucks can’t get there. When that happens, even though they got (grains) bought, they can’t load them to get it on the truck,” Fleischhauer said.
The primary grain of choice for feedlots over the last two months has been, and still is, corn, according to Fleischhauer. Currently priced at $450-$460/tonne ($11.43-$11.68/bu.), he also expects more corn deliveries over the next three or four months.
“With the freight being so high and unpredictable, a lot of these feedlots are getting their stuff coming in and picking it up right at the elevator,” he said.
While he cannot anticipate what will happen to feed grain prices at the start of 2023, Fleischhauer thinks that if there is international demand, prices should stay firm.
“These feedlot guys, they want to make sure that there’s enough (feed grains) around and they don’t want to just go out and buy 1,000 tonnes here, 1,000 tonnes there. They want to pick it up and get bought here over the next six months and that’s what corn has allowed them to do,” he said.
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
