Fed cattle prices fall
Packers comfortable with inventories are slowing their kill to match weak beef demand.
The Canadian dollar rallied sharply higher.
These factors pushed fed cattle prices lower. The Canfax weighted average steer price last week was $80.15 per hundredweight, down $1.71 from the week before and heifers were $78.92, down $1.73.
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Rail prices were down more than $2.50.
There was an increase in grid and contract cattle in October, but last week’s cash offering constituted about a third of the show list.
Feeders did not accept all the bids and some cattle were carried forward.
Sales volume at about 16,000 head was down 17 percent from the week before.
The cash to futures basis weakened to $5.94 under from $9.64 under last week.
Exports to the United States for the week ending Sept. 26 totalled 11,440, down 10 percent from the previous week and 37 percent lower than last year.
D1, 2 cow prices averaged $38.33, up 12 cents and D3 cows averaged $33.23, up 28 cents.
Butcher bulls averaged $48.71, up 45 cents.
Feeders mixed
Alberta auctions marketed 50,149 head of feeder cattle, up 15 percent from the week before.
The steer price average rose six cents per cwt. and heifers were down 72 cents.
Weekly feeder cattle exports to the U.S. to Sept. 26 were 7,187 head, down from 18,382 last year.
Canfax said that with feeder cattle supply picking up through auction markets, order buyers are becoming selective.
Quality and condition will bring premium prices, but with the futures predicting a softer fed cattle market in 2010, feeder prices are likely to be pressured lower.
A small offering of bred cows and heifers saw bred cows trade at $500 to $850 to average $655.63 and bred heifers were $550 to $900 to average $713.33.
Cow-calf pairs traded at $680 to $820 to average $750.
Bred cattle trade is expected to start increasing.
Beef lower
U.S. Choice cutouts fell $2.46 to close at $133.79 US and Select was down $1.88 at $129.20.
Compared to last year, Choice cutouts are $16.38 lower and Select cutouts are $14.69 lower.
Weekly Canadian AAA cutouts to Oct. 2 fell $2.18 Cdn from the previous week. They were $19.80 lower than last year.
AA cutouts were $3.07 lower than the previous week and down $19.27 from last year.
The Montreal wholesale price for delivery this week was steady at $165-$170.
The Alberta live steer price as a percent of AAA cutout was 57 percent, almost two percent higher than last week.
Canadian on-feed report
On Oct. 1, there were 730,013 head on feed in Alberta and Saskatchewan, down seven percent from last year.
Placements in September totalled 280,954, down two percent. Marketings in the month were 172,333, steady with last year. Other disappearance was 10,023, down 30 percent.
