The fall run at one cattle auction site in Manitoba is set to begin before the end of the month.
Ashern Auction Mart will host its first regular sale of the season Aug. 28. General manager Kirk Kiesman said despite the early start, rainy weather led to plenty of grass, which could mean sales won’t ramp up until later.
“There’s still a decent amount of pasture, for the most part. Pastures are holding up really well, but there was a reduced amount of hay this year,” Kiesman said.
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“The futures markets have taken a little bit of a drop on the feeder cattle and the calves. The last couple of sales I heard were down a little bit. Cows and bulls were steady.”
Heartland Livestock Sales in Brandon and Virden, as well as Grunthal Livestock Auction Mart, held regular sales during the week. Steers weighing 600 to 700 pounds sold for $285 to $449 per hundredweight, while heifers in the same weight class were $260 to $372/cwt.
D1 and D2 cows sold for $160 to $201/cwt., and mature bulls sold for $155 to $245/cwt. Heiferettes brought $160 to $240/cwt.
A shrinking North American cattle herd and droughts over the past few years have kept demand strong, according to Kiesman.
“Whether or not it shows, definitely on the cow-calf side there are fewer calves right now,” he said. “I think this is going to be a decent year for (cattle) markets.”
Statistics Canada reported on Aug. 22 that the Canadian herd had 11.9 million cattle and calves as of July 1, the smallest number since 1987. There were 2.4 per cent fewer calves and 1.5 per cent fewer feeder heifers, with 0.7 per cent more steers compared to July 1, 2023. In Manitoba, 960,000 head were reported, compared to 995,000 the year before.
Cattle prices at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange took a drop during the week ended Aug. 22. The October live cattle contract dipped US$4.850/cwt. to close at $175.900. The October feeder cattle contract dropped $6.650/cwt. to $234.250.
Cattle industry leaders from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico held a trilateral meeting on the final night of the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon on Aug. 22. The Canadian Cattle Association welcomed representatives from the U.S. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas.
CCA president Nathan Phinney, along with NCBA president Mark Eisele and CNOG president Homero Garcia de la Llata, discussed trade policy, international cooperation on antimicrobial resistance and the 2026 review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.
“With the challenges that our sector is facing globally, we are stronger working together, to push back against non-tariff barriers and other unscientific international policies that impact beef producers,” Phinney said in a statement.
