Glacier FarmMedia – Feed grain bids in Western Canada were showing strength in mid-April, underpinned by seasonal trends and solid export demand.
- Feed barley into the Lethbridge-area feedlots was priced at about C$302 to C$315 per tonne in mid-April, having risen by C$10 to C$20 per tonne over the past month, according to provincial data. Feed wheat delivered Lethbridge ranged from C$303 to C$311. Meanwhile, prices for imported corn lagged to the upside, rising by about C$7 over the month with current bids at C$297 per tonne into Lethbridge.
- Barley and feed wheat prices are in line with where they were at the same time a year ago, while corn imports are about C$20 per tonne cheaper.
- That has contributed to an increase of Canadian imports of U.S. corn on the year. Canada has imported 425,600 tonnes of U.S. corn from Sept. 1 through April 9, roughly four times the corn imports at the same point the previous marketing year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An additional 190,900 tonnes are on the books to move later — roughly ten times the outstanding sales at the same point in 2024-25.
- Corn futures in Chicago have seen some choppy activity over the past month, rising to 10-month highs in sympathy with crude oil at one point before softening to trade at levels on par with where the market had been before the war in Iran.
- Seasonal price trends should be supporting domestic grain bids, as feed supplies tighten ahead of cattle going out to pasture and the new crop.
- Solid export demand continued to underpin the feed market, with more grain moving offshore this year. Canadian Grain Commission data shows 2.4 million tonnes of barley exported through 35 weeks of the marketing year, up by a million tonnes from the same point a year ago.
- Country-specific data through February shows China remains the largest single destination for Canadian barley in 2025-26, accounting for over half of the movement to-date. Japan and Saudi Arabia were also major buyers.
