Feed Barley Price

[cakadu]

Just out of curiosity (and the necessity to buy some feed barley for the sheep this fall) can anyone tell me what a bushel of feed barley is going for? I live in west Central AB if that has any bearing on the price.

I know prices are lower than in other years, so I'm wondering what we should reasonably be expecting to pay.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[TOM4CWB]

cacadu;

What kind of barley would you like?

If lighter low quality feed bly is what will work for your sheep... $70/t for a 12t load might work. Screened from Canola. TOM4CWB@HOTMAIL.com

[cakadu]

Hi Tom. Thanks for the offer and we may need to source out barley further from home at some stage. For right now, we do have several we can buy from locally. Just wanted to get some idea of what we might be looking at paying.

We tend to feed the sheep as good quality as we can get because they really produce for us and we want to ensure they get the nutrition that they need. Last year we were probably close to 200% - haven't run the numbers yet, but we had plenty of triplets which is something we don't get a whole lot of and actually prefer to stick with twins. Easier for mom, babies and the shepherd.

[charliep]

The Alberta Grain Commission site is a good place to look for feed grain prices.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agc5474

[JD4ME]

Contact one or two feedlots within a reasonable distance and ask them what they are paying, you may also want to consider developing a supply arrangement with a local producer to supply you under a long term contract this would be a good year to pay 10 to 20 cents over market with a 3 year-5 year contract for a fixed amount of barley at a fixed priced this is a good year to try and develop a deal such as this. You could even go as far as running a tender offer in the local paper or on ropin the web in the feed section. With frieght costs so high a local sale will attract a premium anywhere away from the major feed use areas.

[WoolyBear]

How does buying from an elevator work? Comparing their "buying proce" vrs their "selling price" to you? Atleast then you can hope for a good quality, and a fair dockage. It would none the less be a price to start looking from.

[TOM4CWB]

WoolyBear;

Elevators will charge the "Handle" and freight much of the time, where a direct delivery from the farmer will reduce these costs by 50% most times on a fair day!

Quality is what the farmer selling has... most will be honest... and a sample is required before... matched... and discount schedule/contingency plan must be included if quality does not match the sample representation.

THe same must be considered when dealing with the elevator as well... if a shrewd manager is at work!

48lb barley can be 50lbs at one place, and 46lbs at another... depending on sampling and weight testing systems!