As the fall run continues at Manitoba’s cattle auctions, numbers led the Killarney Auction Mart to add an extra sale, said Killarney’s Allan Munroe. In addition to the auction’s regular weekly sale Nov. 4, there was a special cow and butcher bull sale Nov. 7 with expectations of 300 head.
“We are getting all the cattle we want. We’re trying to limit our sales to manageable levels, to do a good job for everyone,” Munroe said.
Killarney’s sales for Nov. 11 and 18 have already filled up. At its Nov. 4 auction, 1,391 cattle came in, up slightly from the previous week, and prices remain strong.
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“We know there are fewer calves around, but a lot of them are coming to town right now,” said Munroe. “Everyone looks at their cheque and can’t believe what it is,” he added, noting feeder heifers gained strength.
Those heifers, in the 500-600 pound range, nudged up to $375 to $415/cwt. for an increase of a few dollars compared to the previous auction. Other heifer prices held relatively steady.
It was the same story with feeder steers, such as those in the 300-400 lb. category. They were $435 to $475 per hundredweight, up $5 to $25 from the Oct. 28 sale, with a few cattle hitting $500. Steer prices were virtually unchanged in the other weight categories.
The trend applied to slaughter cattle sold on Nov. 3, with D1 and D2 cows holding at $155 to $165/cwt. and butcher bulls remaining at $190 to $200.
“They won’t get any higher between now and the end of the fall run,” Munroe said, and slaughter prices may dip a little.
Heavier feeder cattle have been noticeably absent at Killarney, with few that are more than 800 lb.
“We tend to see a lot 500 to 625 weight cattle this time of year,” Munroe explained, noting some cattle born in February have come in.
The province’s seven other cattle auctions saw most of their prices hold steady for feeder and slaughter cattle. Most of the price adjustments were by less than $10/cwt., either way.
Virden led all sales with 4,600 head, almost 900 more than its previous auction.
