Stocks of both barley and oats as of Dec. 31, 2025 were both higher compared to a year earlier despite increased use.
A Statistics Canada grain stocks report released Friday showed national barley stockpiles as of Dec. 31 at 5.685 million tonnes, up 16.7% from the previous year’s 4.87 million. Meanwhile, oat stocks were reported at 2.662 million tonnes, an increase of 9.8% from a year earlier.
Both on-farm (+15.7% to 5.3 million tonnes) and commercial (+31.5% to 426 100 tonnes) barley stocks rose compared with the same date one year earlier. For oats, on-farm stocks were up 12.8% to 2.4 million tonnes, while commercial stocks fell 9.8% to 284,800.
Based on the Dec. 31 stock number and the 2025-26 total supply of 11.024 million tonnes, barley usage for the Aug. 1 – Dec. 31 period amounted to 5.339 million tonnes, up from 4.594 million during the same period in the 2024-25 crop year. Oat usage, at 1.784 million tonnes, was also higher, up from 1.621 million in 2024-25.
According to StatsCan domestic barley use — largely for feed — increased 13.9% to 3.5 million tonnes as of Dec. 31, ahead of the five-year average. This growth was due to higher supply providing sufficient barley for animal feed, the federal agency said.
Oats domestic use rose 36.8% to 680,500 tonnes because of higher animal feed use, StatsCan said.
