There were no prices available for the feeder steer and feeder heifer weight categories in the weekly Cattle Market Update for the week ending May 9.
This comes after several weeks of steady price increases for all steer & heifer weight categories and setting records in the process.
Livestock Intern at the Ministry of Agriculture Emily Schmidt cited low market volumes, in the midst of a seasonal decline as producers prepare to send cattle out to pasture, as the reason for the lack of data.
“We’re a bit ahead of last year in this decline with the dry conditions getting more areas of the province in the field quicker than in previous years. We will likely continue to see volumes stay low and decline through the rest of spring.” Schmidt added.
There were 2,659 head of Saskatchewan feeder cattle sold at auction last week, according to Canfax, and its well below the 10,904 head marketed the week ending May 2. It’s also below the volume of cattle sold the same week last year when 4,509 head were marketed. In total, 167,672 feeder cattle have been marketed this year, which is five per cent above 2024.
Prices of market-ready cattle in Alberta were available and they were up compared to the previous week. The price of Alberta fed steers was $293.86 per cwt for the week ending May 9, up $1.36 from the prior week. The price is also up $35.88 from the same week a year ago when it averaged $257.98 per cwt, noted Canfax. Prices of D2 and D3 slaughter cows were up with D2 cows averaging $231.72 per cwt, an increase of $7.65, and D3 cows averaging $206.75 per cwt, an increase of $4.57.
Feeder cattle and live cattle futures were also up this past week, said the report. May feeder cattle futures were up US$3.02 to close Friday at US$297.97 per cwt and August feeder cattle futures increased by US$3.40 to settle at US$300.30 per cwt. The June live cattle futures contract was up US$3.57 to settle Friday at US$214.67 per cwt and the August live cattle futures contract was up US$2.80 to close at $209.57 per cwt.
The cattle futures rose on Monday on the news that all live cattle movement out of Mexico into the United States was being suspended due to the risk of new world screw worm.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association supports the ban and says the Mexican government needs to do more to stop the spread of the screw worm which was first reported in November. NCBA President Colin Woodall says the Mexican government created unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles which rendered prevention effort ineffective and allowed screwworm cases to spread beyond southern Mexico and within 700 miles of the U.S border.
Dan Basse, the President of Ag Resource Company in Chicago, says the U.S. brings in about 97,000 head of feeder cattle from Mexico per month, accounting for about five per cent of U.S. beef production month-to-month.
“With that in mind, this closing of the border is a big deal and no one seems to know when we’ll re-open the border. We can all hope its sooner than later, but nonetheless, screw worm is a significant and serious insect and I think the U.S. government is taking the right approach.” added Basse.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the border closure will be reviewed on a monthly basis.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
