Cattle prices gain
Fed cattle gained an average of 50 cents to $1 per hundredweight last week. Most of the gains were made Jan. 19-20. Volume was light, said Canfax.
Prices Jan. 21 were steers $87.75-$91.95 per cwt., flat rail $154.55-$154.75 and heifers $88-$92.
Beef sales have slowed a little partly because retailers have filled some of the hole that appeared after the holidays.
Canfax said that after the previous week’s big price jump in beef wholesale prices, business was expected to slow.
The Calgary wholesale price is up $1-$2 for handyweight steers at $150-$159 per cwt. Heavier steers are reduced about $7-$8.
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Canfax said packer profits are being squeezed and they might reduce their kill rates. Beef sales might also slow. This could put downward pressure on prices, but that is offset by low numbers of market-ready cattle. Canfax said prices should be around $90 for the rest of January.
In the cow trade, prices dropped $2 per cwt. on average. A few good grain-fed cows reached as high as $60 per cwt.
Feeder cattle prices rose strongly as good quality light and heavy-weight cattle were hard to find, said Canfax.
The 400-500 pound and 500-600 lb. steers rose by $5 per cwt. on average. Many buyers requested price information on 800-900 lb. steers and those sales were up $2 on the average.
Canfax expects the market’s strength to continue this week as buyers fill pens.
The stock cow trade bred cows saw a price range of $500-$1,250. Bred heifers were priced from $500-$1,125. A few cow-calf pairs sold at $950-$1,075.
Hog prices low
American retailers are cutting back on pork features, which is causing wholesale pork prices to fall, reducing packer margins and leading to lower cash hog prices.
U.S. cash prices declined to $27-$30 (U.S.) per cwt. (live) last week, but the futures market rose on speculation that more pork may be included in the U.S. food aid package to Russia, expectations that Japan will buy more American pork in 1999 and the possibility that hog marketings could once again be curtailed by bad weather.
Manitoba Agriculture notes some analysts are concerned that the hog supply is backing up, that there is lots of pork in cold storage and that poultry production is rising.
In Manitoba, Index 100 hog prices including premiums fell through the week to $108.73 per 100 kilograms on Jan. 21 in response to the weaker U.S. market.
