Imports of US Corn Up Sharply

Mar 25, 2022

Canadian imports of US corn are up more than seven-fold in 2021-22 as Prairie feedlot operators continue to source feed from the other side of the border.

The USDA’s weekly export sales report for the week ended March 17 showed accumulated US corn sales to Canada stood at more than 2.14 million tonnes. A year ago they were a little under 295,000 tonnes. Outstanding sales were just below 1.4 million tonnes for this year compared to about 291,000 12 months ago.

Canadian imports have spiked in the wake of last summer’s Prairie drought which dramatically reduced domestic feedgrain supplies, including barley. Agriculture Canada is projecting total imports of US corn for the year will reach 4 million tonnes.

Erin Harakal, senior trader at Agfinity in Stony Plain, AB, said feed barley prices are now about C$435/tonne for April movement, with wheat around $435 to $440. She quoted corn at about C$460/tonne.

Feed prices have remained fairly steady over the last week and are likely to remain fairly static for the coming week, Harakal added.

“I don’t see anything drastically changing in the next week,” she said.

A work stoppage at CP Rail did raise concerns about the movement of US corn into the Prairies earlier this week, but workers returned to their jobs after just a couple of days after the two sides in the dispute agreed to binding arbitration as means of hammering out a new contract agreement.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.