Cattle numbers remain quite high as the fall run continued, according to Tyler Slawinski of the Gladstone and Ashern auction marts.
He said Gladstone is already full for its next sale on Nov. 2, with Ashern and most other auctions across the province to see quite a few head coming in.
“The weather is still pretty good. Mother Nature is helping the cattle market,” Slawinski said.
Of the seven auctions in Manitoba that reported their numbers during the week ended Oct. 28, there were 12,854 head sold. That included 4,500 cattle sold at Heartland Livestock Services’ Virden facility on Oct. 27. Only Heartland’s Brandon auction had yet to post numbers for the week.
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The previous week, the number of cattle sold province-wide totalled 10,445, with Brandon auctioning the most at 2,155, while Virden didn’t have its numbers available.
“The ‘flood’ is on, whether it’s long term or short term, we’re not sure yet. I believe the fall run won’t go as long as it normally does, partially because we moved a lot of cattle in that dry season we had earlier,” he added.
Slawinski said prices were holding their own for feeder steers and heifers that were 600 pounds or more.
“Anything 600 pounds and under is definitely showing signs of pressure because of the large volumes in those weight classes of cattle,” he added.
Cattle were not only being sold to buyers from the east and west, but also local feedlots and other in-province buyers were busy this week, according to Slawinski.
As for the slaughter market, he said it’s been getting weaker because of the amount of cattle for it.
During the week ended Oct. 22 the average prices for D1-D2 cows were from $61.70 to $71.30 per hundredweight, D3-D5 cows fetched $53.30 to $61.80/cwt, and mature bulls garnered $90 to $103.35/cwt.
For the week ended Oct. 29, those average cattle prices were $56.60 to $66.60/cwt for D1-D2s, $52.50 to $60.50/cwt for D3-D5s, and $90 to $102/cwt for mature bulls.
“It’s showing the most pressure, but the feeder market is holding OK,” Slawinski explained.
Some of the sales numbers from Gladstone’s Oct. 26 auction included the 600- to 700-lb. feeder steers went for $160 to $210.50 cwt, whereas on Oct. 19 they sold for $150 to $217.50/cwt. The same class of feeder heifers were $146 to $177/cwt this week and $141 to $175/cwt last week.
The most notable changes came in the 300- to 400-lb. class, with the feeder steers dropping from $200 to $304/cwt on Oct. 19 to $221 to $279/cwt a week later. The feeder heifers were $184.50 to $219/cwt last week and $150 to $218/cwt on Oct. 26.
