Except for grain corn, stockpiles of grains and oils
stored commercially and on-farm dropped drastically. Barley is at its
lowest level since 1984, to a large extent the result of the smallest
barley crop harvested in 10 years.
Because only 7.8 million tonnes are in storage, hog
farmers have been switching from barley to wheat. Crop farmers are getting
better returns from the domestic feed market than from the traditional
barley export market.
Wheat stocks have also dropped. At 13.7 million tonnes,
they are 19 per cent under last year and at the lowest level since 1988.
Beef feedlots in the west have been shifting from barley to wheat while
the southern part of the province has been turning to U.S. corn.
Stocks of durum wheat, used for pasta, have dropped 22
per cent, substantially below the five-year average.
Only corn bucked the trend. A 20 per cent rise in
production in the fall has left the bins with eight per cent more than
last year.
Statistics Canada says that feed grains and barley have
been bolstered at the local level. At the same time, more grain corn is
coming in from the U.S.
Because of a shortage of pastures last summer, beef farmers had to
start feeding grain earlier than normal.
