Canadian barley stocks as of July 31 were up sharply from a year earlier, potentially helping to cushion the impact of an expected smaller crop this year.
Meanwhile, national oat stocks as of July 31 were down hard in the wake of last year’s small crop.
A Statistics Canada grain stocks report Monday pegged total nationwide barley stocks as July 31 (ending stocks for the now concluded 2023-24 marketing year) at 1.222 million tonnes, up 72% from just 708,000 a year earlier and the heaviest since July 31, 2018. The higher stocks estimate at least partially reflects the upward revision in the 2023 barley production estimate – to 8.905 million tonnes from 8.896 million – that was contained in Statistics Canada’s Aug. 28 crop production report.
The heavier barley ending stocks estimate will soften the blow of a 2024 Canadian barley crop that is currently estimated by StatsCan at 7.468 million tonnes, 16% below a year earlier and the smallest barley crop since 2014, excluding the 2021 drought year.
National on-farm barley stocks as of July 31 were estimated at 878,000 tonnes, up 57.6% on the year, while commercial stocks were up even more steeply at 344,000 tonnes, an increase of 126.3%.
Deliveries of barley off farm decreased 14.1% to 4.3 million tonnes, while exports were down 14.9% year over year to 3.3 million tonnes. Barley used largely for feed purposes fell 12.9% to 4.8 million tonnes as of July 31, StatsCan said.
At 463,000 tonnes, total nationwide oat stocks as of July 31 were down 63.7% from the previous year, as last year’s crop of 2.643 million was down 49% from 2022 and the smallest since 2010.
Oat commercial stocks as of July 31 were down 47.1% on the year to 257,000 tonnes, while on-farm stocks plummeted almost 74% to 206,000.
Oat exports were down 12.1% to 2.3 million tonnes, while oats used for animal feed declined 36.1% to 934,7000, likely because of the tighter supply, StatsCan said.
Data on stocks of principal field crops held on farms on July 31, 2024, come from the June Field Crop Survey, which surveyed approximately 25,000 Canadian farmers from May 15 to June 12, 2024. Data on commercial stocks of western major crops originate from the Canadian Grain Commission.
