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Spring
2018
grainswest.com11
BY NATALIE NOBLE
Calf-run numbers were strong last fall,
and with hog prices in Alberta determined
by a U.S. pricing formula that is converted
to Canadian dollars, the low Canadian
currency is beneficial to hog farmers.
Stability in the cattle industry has
stabilized the feed-grain market. “Not a
lot of feed cattle went south in the fall of
2017. We do have a strong basis right now,
and cattle that are being fed are making
money. I believe feedlots are going to
buy back in,” said Alberta Beef Producers
chair Charlie Christie.
Christie expects the feed barley market
to hold steady into 2018, especially with
the abundance of corn available for
Alberta’s beef producers to purchase and
freight from the United States. “That’s
what’s holding the barley price where it is
right now. If we couldn’t get corn in the
province, feed barley would take off.”
Barley is nutritionally well suited to
cattle. “The cows utilize it well, so cow-
calf operators use it to supplement their
roughage,” Christie said. “If you’re finish-
ing cattle, you need barley in the ration. It
creates a lighter-coloured marbling that is
sought after, while the fat in corn-fed beef
is more of a yellow tone. Barley-fed beef is
unique that way.”
Because barley is usually in abundant
supply on the Prairies, it is a go-to feed
source as it keeps freight costs down.
Wheat, though it can cause digestive is-
sues, is a good feed option, but its typically
higher price makes barley more eco-
nomical. “A mixture of the two is ideal,”
Christie said. “There are some lower-
protein wheats finding their way into
the feed system and holding the price of
barley down a little bit, too.”
On his mixed farm west of Trochu,
Christie and his wife Rochelle run 400
cow-calf pairs, 800 to 1,000 finishers,
1,500 acres of mixed grain and 450 acres
of tame hay. “I typically make my feed
decisions based initially on what I have
for commodities,” Christie said. “I grow
most of my own feed, all my roughages
and try to grow most of my own barley.
So, if I have lots of barley, I might buy a
few more cattle to feed than the calves I
already have.”
Photo:LisaCornish
Trochu farmer and Alberta Beef Producers chair Charlie Christie, seen here with his family, said large feedlots take a
sophisticated approach to determining feed rations, considering supply, pricing and quality.
In determining their feed rations, larger
feedlots consider supply, pricing and
quality. “Feedlots are fairly sophisticated,
to the point where they’ll pay according to
weight, and somewhat protein,” Christie
said. He has observed that very few pro-
ducers buy their feed pre-mixed, gener-
ally purchasing large volumes of barley
through brokers. Alternatively, the barley
grower often comes directly to them.
Early 2017 was also profitable for the
hog industry in Alberta; however, feed
costs rose during the second half of the
year. According to Lennard Vanderschee,
who operates a 400-sow farrow-to-finish
hog operation west of Blackfalds with his
wife, Colleen, this resulted in an approxi-
mate loss of $10 per hog for his operation
by the end of the year.
The Vanderschees mill their own
feed, purchasing the wheat, barley and
faba beans used in their feed mix from
neighbouring farmers at the price paid by
local feed mills. “We have a nutritionist
least-cost our rations, and as a result of
the tightening spread between barley and
wheat over this year, we saw our rations
move from 70 per cent barley down to 25
per cent, with wheat moving up in the
rations,” Vanderschee said.
And while barley stakeholders have
seen growth this crop year in the feed
barley market, they hope to see a rebound
in barley acres. “Alberta Barley has some
really ambitious goals in place to increase
the acres and yield of barley and also to in-
crease the markets for barley,” Nielsen said.
In January, Brent Johnson, SaskBarley
vice-chair and feed barley committee
chair, said the feed barley market in
Saskatchewan was also strong at the start
of 2018. “Right now, we have some really
good feed prices, possibly holding for the
next six months, or even up until the new
crop comes off,” he said.
Johnson also said the success of the
2018/19 crop year would depend on fac-
tors such as corn prices, yields and acres
seeded. “It’s difficult to say what the feed
barley market might look like a year out
from now,” he said. “But three to five
years from now, with the Barley Council
of Canada working to get a steady feed
market established in China, there could
be a stronger baseline for feed to work
off of. And as we work toward more
research, it’s my hope that in five to 10
years, we might be able to find increased
uses for barley, increased efficiency by
feeding it and a consistently higher value
for feed so producers can get a good
return on it.”