Many cattle auctions across Manitoba came back from summer breaks during the week ended Sept. 3, but the volume of cattle at auction was below average.
“I think it’ll be awhile before it’s busy because there’s a lot of grass out there,” Harold Unrau, manager of Grunthal Livestock Auction Mart, said.
“It’ll probably be towards the end of September before things pick up.”
Across the province, about 3,000 cattle headed to the auction ring, up from last week when just 558 went to auction.
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This week, feeder cattle prices were supported by strong buying interest and the lower-than-expected numbers at auction. At Grunthal, cattle between 500-600 lbs. were between $205-$230 per hundredweight, up from last week when the same weight class was between $200-$215/cwt.
“Futures are half-decent, and there weren’t that many coming to auction, so the demand was there,” Unrau said.
Butcher cattle prices dropped slightly due to lower demand levels, with slaughter cows dropping from $69-$76/cwt last week to $47-$68/cwt this week.
“In a few weeks we’ll really get into the fall run,” Unrau said.
