Although most of Manitoba’s cattle auctions had their weekly sales, blizzard conditions on Feb. 1 led to two auctions changing their plans, Tyler Slawinski of Gladstone Auction Mart said.
Ashern Auction Mart cancelled its Feb. 1 sale, he said, and Gladstone was postponed to Feb. 2.
“It’s the first time in all of my history that this has happened. We had to hold the cattle over 24 hours, but everything was tended to and well looked after,” Slawinski said of the Gladstone sale.
He noted the bitterly cold temperatures and blizzard conditions made it very tough to move cattle to market. While Gladstone had about 700 cattle booked for its sale, it ended up with 932.
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“There are still cattle out there. There are still cattle being backgrounded,” Slawinski said. “I think we’re going to see a wave of backgrounded cattle the (producers) were typically able to background.”
He pointed to the cost factor of holding back cattle, because of the growing expense of maintaining them. “How much more are you going to need to see out of those livestock to make ends meet?”
While he said prices remain strong, especially for heavier cattle, they are not as firm as they were three weeks ago. However, he noted, compared to about this time last year, prices are about the same.
“It’s never a definite runaway for the market to get where it needs to be. There’s always something getting in the way,” Slawinski said.
The high cost of feed “is wreaking havoc on the feeder market,” he said, adding that the slaughter market has its issues as well.
“Guys are holding on to some of these cull cows with ‘hamburger season’ coming, to see what they pay up. Those cows eat lots to just stand there.”
Feeder prices, for the heavies and the lights, saw a little bit of movement at Gladstone between its Jan. 25 and Feb. 2 sales. For instance, feeder steers in the 800- to 900-pound class last week went for $173.50-$185.25 per hundredweight (cwt), while this week they sold for $165.50-$185.50/cwt. Meanwhile, steers (330-400 lbs.) that garnered $221-$271 on Jan. 26 fetched $170-$280 on Feb. 2.
Prices for feeder heifers were more stable, seeing only minor changes for the most part.
Slaughter cattle, from week to week, saw D1-D2s go from $59-$72.50/cwt on Jan. 26 to $63-$78 the following week. Mature bull values changed slightly, from $94-$101/cwt on Jan. 26 to $90-$99.50 on Feb. 2.
The Manitoba cattle industry has also been keeping an eye on a border blockade near Coutts, Alta. about 100 km south of Lethbridge. It’s the only 24-hour crossing to and from the U.S. in Alberta. Export beef and other traffic had been brought to a standstill for a few days by protesters against COVID-19 vaccine mandates using trucks and other vehicles to block the route.
By Feb. 2 protesters were allowing one lane of traffic each way to cross the border.
