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.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .