FED PRICES FALL
Worries that consumers will balk at high meat prices and general unease about commodity prices pressured cattle markets lower.
Alberta average fed prices were $2.25 per hundredweight lower.
Almost all of the trade was dressed, in the $171.75-172.75 per hundredweight range.
Recently there has been interest for Canadian fed cattle from northwestern U.S. buyers.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba fed cattle saw sales to the east as Ontario supplies tighten.
Show list volumes are expected to seasonally tighten, but the number of cattle sold under grid and contract arrangements will grow. This will give domestic packers leverage to pressure cash cattle prices lower.
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COWS SLIGHTLY LOWER
D1, D2 cows averaged $74.08, down 14 cents. Rail grade cows were $142- $147.
Slaughter bulls averaged $86.14 live, down 45 cents.
Weekly Canadian non-fed slaughter to May 14 was down 21 percent from the previous week.
Support also came from reduced deliveries as producers focus on seeding.
FEEDERS MIXED
The Canfax average steer price was 98 cents per cwt. lower while heifers gained 52 cents.
The new Canfax western Canadian feeder index, which tracks weighted average sale prices of 700-899 pound feeder steers sold over the previous seven calendar days, was fairly steady as weights rose.
Reported weekly auction volumes totalled 20,827, down 23 percent.
Improving feedlot pen conditions should support prices.
Quality is a factor in light caf prices.
U.S. BEEF PRICE UP
U.S. beef cut-out values rose on moderate demand and moderate to heavy offering.
Canadian cut-out values were not available at publication time.
The Montreal wholesale market for delivery this week was $2 lower at $194-$196.
U.S. FEEDLOT NUMBERS UP
The USDA reported 11.2 million cattle in feedlots on May 1, up seven percent from a year ago and the most for that date since 2007. Analysts, on average, expected about a five percent increase.
April placements were up 10 percent to 1.795 million head, the second highest on record. Analysts expected a five percent increase.
USDA also reported 20 percent more beef in storage.
The increase in feedlot numbers has been widely attributed to drought in Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico that forced cattle off of pastures.
This cattle market information is selected from the weekly report from Canfax, a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. More market information, analysis and statistics are available by becoming a Canfax subscriber by calling 403- 275-5110 or at www.canfax.ca.
