The number of cattle at Manitoba’s weekly cattle auctions increased recently, but Allan Munroe of the Killarney Auction Mart said the fall run has yet to start.
Good grazing conditions in Manitoba pastures, especially compared to recent years, are keeping cattle at home.
“A lot of people aren’t in a hurry just yet, but the yearlings that hit 1,000 pounds have to go,” Munroe said.
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Yearlings have been filling the rings at Killarney so far in September, he added. The auction had 743 head for its first sale after the summer break on Sept. 9 and followed up with 961 on Sept. 16.
“We’ve been fortunate to get good strings of yearlings coming through the ring. The calves are just sort of starting to move,” Munroe said, noting volumes are set to drop for Killarney’s Sept. 23 sale.
“But when we get to the week after, that will be the first flush of those January-February calves, plus some more yearlings.”
Manitoba Agriculture said in its Sept. 17 crop report that “pastures rarely look this good in September and are still producing regrowth.”
The report also noted poor yields for native forages during the second cut with one or two bales per acre at best.
As for cattle prices, Munroe said those for Sept. 16 were much like those at the same time last year. For example, feeder steers weighing 800 to 900 pounds fetched $315 to $338 per hundredweight last week, compared to $315 to $330 a year ago, with a top price back then of $338. Among the 400 to 500 pounders, feeder steers brought in $375 to $430/cwt. on Sept. 16 versus $385 to $440 a year ago.
However, there’s a significant upswing in slaughter prices, with D1-D2 cows selling for $165 to $177/cwt. on Sept. 16 as opposed to $125 to $125 last year.
Munroe said price changes on a week-to-week basis are pressured by the slaughter market and the futures, not the number of cattle coming to auction.
“There’s not a lot of volume overall right now to make the price go down,” he said.
As for buyers, Munroe said they are eyeing the fewer calves coming in rather than the more numerous big and costly yearlings.
Seven of Manitoba’s eight auctions went ahead during the week, but Ste. Rose postponed its Sept. 19 sale to Sept. 26. Reasons for the delay, according to its website, included chute and pen construction, a low number of consignments, favourable pasture conditions and positive weather for harvest and forages.
