As spring approaches, prices for cattle at Manitoba’s auctions are expected to remain strong, according to Rick Wright of the Heartland Order Buying Company and Tyler Fulton, second vice-president of the Manitoba Beef Producers.
A storm system that crossed Manitoba March 2-3 wreaked havoc with some auctions. The Killarney Auction Mart rescheduled its March 4 sale for March 7, while Heartland’s Brandon auction and the Gladstone Auction Mart cancelled their March 5 sales. The remaining five auctions kept to weekly schedules.
“It will be a little congested at the end of the week, but it was a good call to cancel those sales because it wasn’t fit for man or beast on [March 3]”, Wright said.
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He and Fulton said the provincial cattle industry will continue to see some of the best auction prices for some time.
“Barring a drought, barring a border closure, or some kind of black swan event that’s horrific, we are going to see prices similar to what we are seeing right now to potentially last for a couple of years. Maybe longer than that,” Wright said.
“Cattle producers are generally pretty optimistic about cattle prices for the next few years. It is generally a short supply of cattle in part due to the droughts across North America that have contributed to the record high prices. It will take several years to rebuild the cow herd across North America, but there are many other factors that could throw a wrench into this broad trend,” Fulton said.
As for the reduced number of cattle, Wright said, few were purchased in fall to be sold in spring and producers retained very few heifers last fall.
He said the market remains somewhat cautious about high auction prices and there has been consumer resistance toward more expensive beef in stores. As well, he said cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are positioned to support higher auction prices.
Wright and Fulton said the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s livestock insurance program is helpful for cattle producers, especially those with cow-calf operations.
“This is the only risk management program that most cow-calf producers can take advantage of,” said Wright, noting premiums have always been an issue. “It’s too bad the [provincial] government doesn’t share the cost of premiums like they do on some other insurance programs.”
Last month, MASC said higher cattle prices led to higher premiums.
“We’re looking at a value of $390 for an insured index on a 600-weight animal,” said MASC business development specialist Jeff Legaarden, who is also a cattle producer.
He said that works out to approximately $75 per head to get the top value, which deters some producers. The next level premium works out to $43/head, and the least costly is $22.
– With files from Don Norman, Glacier FarmMedia
