Sparse numbers of cattle at Winnipeg Livestock Sales’ July 12 auction made it difficult to get a good bead on feeder prices, but were sufficient for slaughter cattle, according to field representative Scott Anderson.
“There’s not a whole lot of urgency [to sell] for the most part,” he said. “Given how strong things have been, it was still very good.”
Prices held up, with cows $3 to $5 per hundredweight lower than Winnipeg’s June 28 auction.
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Manitoba cattle prices – Oct. 28
Local cattle sale prices from Manitoba’s seven cattle auctions for the week of Oct. 14 to 21, 2025.
Feeder cows for slaughter on July 12 garnered $168 to $173.50/cwt. compared to $173 to $181.50 on June 28. Fleshy export cows most recently sold for $163 to $168/cwt., slipping from $165 to $172, and lean export cows went for $145 to $166 on July 12 after they brought in $150 to $166/cwt. previously
Age-verified cattle sold for $180 to $215/cwt. on July 12 compared to $180 to $230 at the previous sale. Mature bulls were steady at $220 to $226/cwt. versus $220 to $228 at the prior auction.
Auction prices for feeder cattle on July 12 were unchanged from June 28 on small volumes. There was an increase for the most recent sale at 45 head compared to 30 on June 28.
“Pretty tough to do anything with what we had. For the quality that was there, it was an ‘it is what it is’ kind of thing,” Anderson said. “It was tough to put two of anything in the ring together” and also difficult to assemble loads.
Of those making bids on July 12, he said order buyers were likely representing local people or buying cattle for themselves.
As for the resolution of labour disputes at Cargill’s Guelph and Calgary plants, Anderson said it won’t make much difference regarding cattle coming to auction in Manitoba during summer.
“The types of cattle we are seeing now aren’t the types of cattle that are to benefit from those announcements. But it will be favourable going into the fall run, absolutely.”
In the meantime, he said cattle producers were busy making hay.
Manitoba Agriculture noted in its July 16 report that forage crops have had good weather for growth, with hay yields said to be above normal. However, farmers were behind with the first cut and concerned about quality.
As for the week of July 19 to 25, the Winnipeg auction was closed July 19, while Heartland Livestock Services are scheduled to have a sale at Brandon on July 23. Grunthal also has its auction the same day and HLS Virden will be open July 24. The auctions at Ashern, Gladstone, Killarney and Ste. Rose are closed for the summer.
