Prices for butcher cattle remain high just weeks before auction sites in Manitoba begin their fall run.
Three auction facilities in the province — Grunthal, Virden and Winnipeg — all hosted regular sales for the week ended Aug. 18. At those sites, D1 and D2 cow prices were between $95 and $112 per hundredweight, while prices for mature bulls ranged from $100 to $145/cwt.
Scott Anderson of Winnipeg Livestock Sales said he can’t remember the last time he saw butcher cattle prices this high.
“It’s been several years,” he said. “They were in the tank over the last few years. To sell a big bull for ($135-$145/cwt), it helps guys out.”
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Prices for feeder cattle were also quite high, aided by a lack of supply on the market. The highest prices in any weight class during the week ranged from $204 to $257/cwt, with none priced below $180/cwt. Winnipeg and Grunthal saw only 35 and 38 feeder cattle go through the rings during the week, respectively.
“There hasn’t been any feeder cattle moving at all, it seems, all across Manitoba. You can probably count on your fingers how many feeder cattle we’ve sold since the middle of July,” Anderson said. “But once they do start to move, I think (prices are) going to be substantially higher than we’ve seen in probably 10 years.”
The recent rise in prices is evident on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The October live cattle contract closed at US$144.75/cwt on Aug. 18, $4.15 higher than one month earlier and one day after reaching $146.25 for its highest price since April 22.
Meanwhile, the October feeder cattle contract closed at $187.675/cwt on Aug. 18. One day earlier, the contract hit a seven-year high of $190.20.
Despite higher prices in fuel and other input costs, Anderson anticipates more hay will be available this year than in drought-stricken 2021.
“Guys are in a much better position going into the fall run, as far as looking after good feed. Going into the winter, there should be lots of feed for cows, lots of feed for backgrounding cattle,” he said. “I think there’s a general good feeling.”
Anderson also believes larger cattle may be sold to processing plants in Eastern Canada, while other cattle may move to Western Canada. The cattle market will be in good shape going into the fall, he added.
“I (also) think a lot of the lighter cattle will stay local again, but there’s a number of guys who will grass considerable amounts of cattle. They start buying the cattle in the fall, keep them over the winter and then grass them over the following summer,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be substantially higher than what we’ve seen for a number of years. There is lots of feed, beef demand is good and there are not as many cattle around.”
