Cattle volume up
While volumes were up for fed cattle last week, prices dipsy-doodled, eventually averaging 50 cents per hundredweight higher for steers than last week.
However, prices were lower toward the week’s end, said Canfax.
The 16 percent increase in volume was seen as a good sign as feedlots were aiming to clean up the heavyweight cattle that need to go.
Heifers gained even more in price, up by $1.85, partly due to quality compared to last week.
Steers brought $79 to $82.25 (flat rail $133 to $134.70) and heifers $81.75 to $83.50 (flat rail $138.90).
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The outlook is for the local price to remain in the low $80s with handyweight steers bringing a premium. That should hold true to month’s end.
Feedlots are moving lots of cattle right now.
Local numbers should taper off after Labor Day, provided feedlots sell cattle now, Canfax said.
Cows are expected to remain steady in the west with D1-2 cows selling from $42 to $59.
Feeder volumes were up at both auctions and direct sales, and were 97 percent higher than last week, but are still down 27 percent compared to the same week last year.
Prices were steady to firm compared to the previous week.
The outlook is for prices to remain strong as barley continues to be priced lower, and volumes remain smaller than seasonally normal.
Hog prices hold
Wholesale pork prices are improving in the United States, but packers weren’t raising their bids, given the plentiful supply of hogs.
Cash hog prices were in the $35.50 (U.S.) to $36.50 per hundredweight (live) range.
Hog slaughter in the U.S. is still about nine percent above year-earlier levels. Although that’s down from previous weeks, it’s still excessive compared to pork demand.
In the short term it doesn’t appear likely that hog marketings will decline to the point where packers will be required to pay more for hogs.
