Cattle prices at auction sites across Manitoba followed the lead of early winter temperatures and remained elevated during the week ended Nov. 14.
Some 13,689 cattle went through the rings at regular sales during the week and most sites saw lightweight feeder heifers sell for at least $500 per hundredweight and prices for lightweight feeder steers exceed $600/cwt.
At Heartland Livestock Sales in Virden, the high price for a feeder steer was $700/cwt., compared to $650 at the previous week’s sale. Brennin Jack, general manager of HLS-Virden, attributed strong prices to supply and demand.
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“(There’s) a lot of feed around and a lot of enthusiasm in the marketplace. It’s made for an incredibly high market right now and it’s good to see for the producers.”
Slaughter cattle prices seem to have plateaued. D1 and D2 slaughter cows ranged from $150 to $175/cwt., the same as the week before. Mature bulls sold from $170 to $219/cwt., compared to $155 to $240/cwt. in the previous week. Heiferettes set a buyer back $175 to $276/cwt., while the price range one week earlier was $170 to $262/cwt.
“The feeding-type cows can go long into the New Year priced pretty good. The kill-type cows get a little softer historically as we get closer to Christmas, but they’re still selling pretty good for the volumes we’ve been seeing recently,” Jack said.
“Any type of cattle from 300 to 600 pounds are in extreme demand. We’re starting to see (prices for) the bigger calves, 700 to 800-pounders, likely not seem to be getting higher.”
Cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange showed slight declines over the past week. The February live cattle contract was down US$2.325/cwt. to close at $185.100 on Nov. 14. The January feeder cattle contact declined $1.125/cwt. and ended the week at $243.200.
“There’s a lot of local trade and lots of cattle going east and some going south (into the U.S.),” said Jack.
While temperatures in much of Manitoba have been above seasonal, Jack cautioned that temperatures closer to normal will be on their way over the next 30 to 40 days. He urged producers to protect cattle from the cold to fully capitalize on the market.
He anticipates a slowdown in both cattle numbers and prices over the next two weeks.
“Guys will regroup in the New Year and we should have a strong 2025.”
Adam Peleshaty writes for MarketsFarm, a division of Glacier FarmMedia specializing in commodity markets reporting.
