Drought conditions on the Canadian prairie have reduced harvest yields and caused more yearling cattle to move into feedlots earlier. U.S. corn and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) can help supplement this domestic shortfall and meet increased demand for feed – as a U.S. Grains Council (USGC) mission promoted to feedyards in Alberta in September.
The Council’s team, including North Dakota corn farmer Robert Hanson and USGC consultant Tom Dowler, conducted 21 meetings over three days with buyers, brokers and cattle feeders in Alberta, representing one million head of cattle.
“The lots varied widely from calves only to finishing feeders and everything in between,” Hanson said. “These end-users are looking for a consistent, reliable supply of U.S. corn and DDGS and practical solutions to problems related to railroad timing, reliable offloading and additional investment needs.”
The marketplace for Canadian livestock feed demand is highly competitive with many alternative energy and protein feed ingredients available for producers. The 2018 Canadian harvest, however, has realized lower yields for wheat and barley, leading to less overall tonnage. Additionally, the harvest has higher quality, which is moving the limited volume available into export and food markets versus feed markets.
The United States is well-positioned to fill this domestic grain shortfall due to close geographic proximity to the U.S. market, including northern U.S. ethanol plants that offer U.S. DDGS for local feed rations, and the market access provided by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Overall, Canada has purchased 1.44 million metric tons (56.7 million bushels) of U.S. corn thus far in the 2017/2018 marketing year (Sept. 2018-July 2018), more than double the previous marketing year, in addition to 605,000 tons of U.S. DDGS.
The Council continues to work with Alberta feedlots to address concerns related to challenges with Canadian rail transload and delivery and provides practical solutions to buffer these challenges.
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