Only three cattle auctions went ahead this week across Manitoba — one of which, Heartland Livestock Services’ sale at Virden, was hit with a snowstorm that drastically cut the number of head coming to market.
Manager Brennin Jack said only around 130 head were sold on Jan. 5, which wasn’t big enough of a sample to generate a market report. Despite that, he said prices were very strong, thanks in part to demand from the United States.
“These bigger cattle are going to trade pretty good. I’d say they’re $10 to $15 higher,” he said, noting prices should remain quite high for the next while.
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Meanwhile, the sale at the Ste. Rose Auction Mart on Jan. 6 featured more than 700 cattle, with similar price increases. The heavier feeder steers rose from $185-$215 per hundredweight in the 600- to 700-lb. class on Dec. 15 to $210-$223/cwt this week. The 700- to 800-pound steers went for $185-$195.50/cwt before the Christmas shutdown and sold for $205-$215.50/cwt in Ste. Rose’s first sale of the new year.
Lighter steers remained relatively steady, for the most part. While the 300- to 400-pounders were unchanged at $210-$279/cwt, the 400- to 500-pounders saw the high end pull back a little, from $262/cwt on Dec. 15 to $246/cwt on Jan. 6. For the 500- to 600-pounders, prices went from $195-$243/cwt to $210-$230.
Price changes were not as pronounced for feeder heifers at Ste. Rose, but with more notable increases in the heavier cattle. For example, the 500- to 600-lb. class sold for $175-$201/cwt on Dec. 15 compared to $185-$206 on Jan. 6.
For the 700- to 800-pounders, the heifers went from $150-$160/cwt to $170-$181.
Joining Virden and Ste. Rose next week will be most of the province’s other cattle auctions. Winnipeg Livestock Sales resumed weekly auctions on Jan. 7, followed by the Killarney Auction Mart on Jan. 10. On Jan. 11, there will be weekly sales at the Gladstone Auction Mart, Grunthal Livestock Auction Mart and Heartland Livestock Services’ Brandon auction. The Ashern Auction Mart kicks off its first sale of 2022 on Jan. 19.
