Canada: Barley stocks above five-year average
Total stocks of grains and oilseeds, including commercial and on-farm inventories, stay at levels well above their 10-year averages, according to the Statistics Canada report as of July 31.
Concerning the stocks of barley, they were well above average. Commercial stocks and on-farm stocks of barley rose in kind to 3.5 million tonnes, a jump from 2.1 million tonnes in July 2004 and the highest level since the record 5.1 million tonnes set in 1983. The recent five-year average is 2.2 million tonnes.
All Prairie provinces reported large boosts of stocks on-farm. Saskatchewan led the way with a 120% rise to 1.1 million tonnes while Manitoba and Alberta farmers reported gains of 75% and 60% respectively.
Abundant barley supplies and low prices combined with record animal numbers on farms to increase barley feeding for a second year. However, feeding of barley was limited by abundant competing supplies of feed wheat.