A late harvest over much of central and northern Saskatchewan did not have a major impact on barley yields or quality.

“The colour, the test weight, the plumpness; it was all pretty good,” says Kenric Exner, a merchandising manager with Viterra. “There are some pockets of issues. Southern Alberta was pretty light and the bushels weren’t there, but northeast Saskatchewan had a fantastic crop,”

Feed barley exports have robust to countries like China, Kuwait and Japan. That has help offset the loss of the Saudi market (political reasons) and an increase in U.S. corn imports by southern Alberta cattle feedlots.

Exner says the feed barley market is good now, but that will likely change after the 2019 harvest.

The current Saskatchewan feed barley price is between $4.50 and $4.75 a bushel for January/February delivery, but it’s sub $4.00 a bushel for September/October.

“That has producers looking at their rotations a little closer. Peas are becoming attractive again. Red lentils are back up to 19-and-a-half and 20 cents. When you have good profitability in other crops, barley and oats don’t see those acreage gains because they are less profitable,” says Exner.

Exner is anticipating a flat to modest acres increase for barley this year.

This is a portion of an interview with Kenric Exner at CropSphere on January 15.