Prices at Manitoba’s cattle auctions remained strong for feeders as well as for slaughter during the week ended April 20, according to Scott Anderson of Winnipeg Livestock Sales.
After closing for Good Friday on April 7, the April 14 sale was the first for Winnipeg since March 31. The number of cattle at auction was bolstered by the April 10 absence of sales in Ashern and Ste. Rose.
“We had a bit of carryover as there were sales on this side of the province,” said Anderson.
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Ste. Rose also cancelled its April 20 sale due to the snowstorm that struck southern Manitoba, and Taylor Auctions said it did not have a sale April 17.
Anderson noted several producers decided to postpone plans to haul cattle to Winnipeg’s April 21 auction and he expects fewer cattle will be sold once farmers start spring planting.
Prices for slaughter cows at Winnipeg dipped a little at the April 14 sale, he said, topping off at $136 per hundredweight. The bulls pushed into the high $160s, with one fetching $170/cwt.
“That’s the highest I could ever remember,” Anderson said of that bull, noting “whatever the cows lost, the bulls found.”
Feeder heifers “had more pep in them,” with price upticks in some weight classes, he added. Overall, he described continuing strong prices as a perfect storm of different elements coming together.
“The demand for beef is high and there’s a shortage of feeder cattle. Also there’s a shortage of fat cattle,” Anderson said.
Prices in Manitoba are heavily based on cattle prices in the U.S., he said. Those prices have continued to increase as media reports point to contraction of the national herd.
On April 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture attaché in Ottawa echoed the findings of a recent Statistics Canada report showing shrinkage of the Canadian cattle herd. The attaché estimated total cattle supply in Canada for 2023 at 15.72 million head, down from 16.28 million the year before and 16.4 million in 2021.
Ending inventories continued to contract as well, according to the attaché. Those for 2023 were projected to be 10.8 million head, down from 11.27 million in 2022 and 11.52 million in 2021.
The report noted high land prices were hurting smaller producers and preventing new producers from entering the industry. Some in the Manitoba cattle industry have also pointed to a growing number of producers getting out of the business.
