The fall cattle run in Manitoba is picking up pace, but harvest operations competed for farmer time and reduced the number of animals at sales in the second week of September.
Killarney and Gladstone Auction Marts hosted their first regular sales of the season on Sept. 9 and 10, respectively. For the first time since spring, all eight Manitoba cattle auction sites held sales in the same week. In total, 5,476 cattle went through the rings during the week ended Sept. 12.
Tyler Slawinski, auctioneer at the Ashern and Gladstone Auction Marts, said good weather and harvesting operations kept plenty of cattle at home and only 300 sold in Gladstone on Sept. 10.
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“We’re not seeing huge numbers of feeder cattle just yet. We’re seeing some feeder cattle that are coming to town off cull cows that are being split.”
Maximum feeder steer prices at auction sites ranged from $380-$520 per hundredweight compared to $400-$449 the week before. For feeder heifers, high prices were $340-$410/cwt. compared to $370-$382.50 one week earlier.
Overall, D1 and D2 cow prices ranged from $140.50-$211/cwt., while the previous week’s prices were from $160 $197. Mature bulls sold for $185-$255/cwt. and heiferettes sold for $100-$230/cwt.
“Prices are still very strong. They may not be as high as expected (compared to what) the projections were showing,” Slawinski said. “They’re essentially on par from where we left off from the summer break. Cow and bull prices are starting to slip slightly just due to volumes of cull cows starting to move.”
Cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange dipped after the Sept. 7-8 weekend before making weekly gains. The October live cattle contract nearly hit a new low on Sept. 9 at US$173.775/cwt. before rising to close at $178.025 on Sept. 12.
While the October feeder cattle contract eventually closed at $239.750/cwt. on Sept. 12, up $5.175 from the previous week, it had nearly sunk to a new low at $229.575 on Sept. 9.
Decent weather and feedlots being cleaned out will create a demand for starting cattle, according to Slawinski. That will raise prices but the spike may not last.
“I can see the market climb a little bit as we get into the fall run. Then, as we get flooded with cattle during the fall run, we’re going to see some suppression. We’re going to see a little bit of a market slip.
“But the overall consensus is the cattle numbers are lower than they’ve been since 1987. I don’t think there’s been that much herd-building going on just yet. We have that in our favour for a little while yet.”
District meetings coming
Manitoba Beef Producers will host district meetings in late October and early November, with in-person meetings for odd-numbered districts due to director elections. For even-numbered districts, there will be a virtual meeting on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. For meeting locations, times and registration, visit: mbbeef.ca/our-news/district-meetings-manitoba-beef-producers/.
