Blizzard to bring pain, gain for cattle producers

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Published: April 21, 2022

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Blizzard to bring pain, gain for cattle producers

Cattle producers and auction sites in Manitoba had decisions to make regarding a major blizzard hitting the southern half of the province on April 13-14.

The storm dropped more than 30 centimetres of snow with higher amounts in western Manitoba. The Colorado low brought winds gusting to 70 km/h, closed all major highways and prompted comparisons to the 1997 blizzard that fuelled the “Flood of The Century” in the Red River Valley.

As a result, Ashern Auction Mart cancelled its April 13 sale due to the weather, while the Heartland Livestock Sales site in Virden moved its pre-sort sale one day earlier to April 12. Ste. Rose Auction Mart did not have a sale on April 14 in observance of Good Friday. At least 3,834 cattle went through the rings during the week ended April 14.

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According to Heartland’s Virden manager Brennin Jack, some producers didn’t want to sell cattle too early while others decided to wait until next week. He said while the storm may have caused pain for some cattle producers, it may also become a blessing in disguise.

“This is a calf-killing blizzard that we’ve got heading into Manitoba. The fact is we are going to lose some calves out of this storm, for sure,” said Jack on April 13. “But the reality is I think it’s going to save the cow herd in Manitoba. This will bring the moisture we really need and (then) we’ll get warm weather cranked up the next 10 days after. I think it will kill two per cent of the calves, but it will save 98 per cent of the cow herd.”

During the sale in Virden on April 12, second-cut, third-cut and “oddball” cattle were being discounted, Jack said, while front-end cattle were well priced. All five auction sites that posted their market reports had steers up to 800 lbs. bringing in more than $200 per hundredweight.

On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the highly traded June live cattle contract closed at US$136.875/cwt on April 13, US$2.65 higher than the close one week earlier. On the same day, the May feeder cattle contract closed at US$161.95/cwt, two days after closing US$2.05 lower.

Jack estimated 50 per cent of sold cattle were going south into the U.S., 40 per cent were staying in Western Canada and the remaining 10 per cent were moved to the eastern half of the country.

He expects lower numbers of cattle at the next week’s sales due to the storm, but they may also portend a further decline to come.

“At the end of April, we’ll see another big shot of cattle. There might be a little bit in May, but I think we’re on the tail end of a big run.”

About the author

Adam Peleshaty

Adam Peleshaty

Reporter

Adam Peleshaty is a longtime resident of Stonewall, Man., living next door to his grandparents’ farm. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in statistics from the University of Winnipeg. Before joining Glacier FarmMedia, Adam was an award-winning community newspaper reporter in Manitoba's Interlake. He is a Winnipeg Blue Bombers season ticket holder and worked as a timekeeper in hockey, curling, basketball and football.

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