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.
Fed prices rise
Alberta fed steers climbed more than $3 per hundredweight last week to $217.59 per cwt. f.o.b. the lot.
Alberta steer prices have rallied $9.70 per cwt. in the last four weeks, while steer carcass weights have dropped 23 pounds in the West. Steer weights are now 53 lb. below year ago levels and 15 lb. lighter than the five-year average, even though they remain 69 lb. above Ontario and 15 lb. above the United States.
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Year to date, western fed cattle slaughter is down two percent from last year, with steers up 10 percent and heifers down 16 percent. Total western slaughter is steady year to date.
Ontario fed steers were steady with the last three weeks at $215 per cwt. Heifers traded fully steady with the previous week with light volume.
Year to date, eastern fed cattle slaughter is down eight percent from last year, with steers down seven percent and heifers down 12. Total eastern slaughter is down six percent year to date.
Weekly slaughter has averaged 1,365 head below year-ago levels since the beginning of February. The Ontario cash-to-futures basis weakened over the previous two weeks to –$10.92 per cwt.
In the U.S., live trade in the north was US$4-$5 per cwt. higher than the previous week, at around $172-$177 per cwt. Live trade in the south was $2-$3 higher from $168-$170 per cwt. Northern dressed trade was $5-$8 per cwt. higher, marked at $275-$280.75 per cwt. delivered.
For the week ending March 25, U..S slaughter was steady with last week. Weekly beef cow slaughter was a significant seven percent higher than the previous week at 66,200 head.
Steer carcass weights dropped another four lb. and averaged 895 lb. In contrast, cow carcass weights increased three lb. to 640 lb.
Feeders steady
Feeder prices traded generally steady last week with strong demand for large calves heavier than 600 lb. Light calves less than 600 lb. traded $4-$8 per cwt. lower on reduced quality and lot size.
With a short trading week due to Good Friday, feeder volumes were light at many auctions. Ample special pre-sort sales did add quite a few cattle to last week’s total. Continued strong prices also flushed out a mixed offering of varied quality that may have muted the feeder price tone.
Larger calves from 600-700 lb. saw strong demand, particularly as grass types to finish against the fourth quarter fed market. Large feeders traded mixed last week with 800-900 lb. feeders stronger, while large yearlings heavier than 900 lb. eased lower on reduced quality and offerings.
Total auction volumes were 33 percent smaller than the previous week at 24,449 head, but were 24 percent larger than the same week last year. Year to date, auction volumes have consolidated with last year to be steady at 388,492 head.
Canadian feeder exports to the U.S. for the week ending March 25 were down 12 percent from the previous week at 2,690 head and were down 58 percent from the same week last year. Year to date, feeder exports were down 62 percent to 28,263 head.
U.S. cutouts rise
In U.S. beef trade, cutout values saw a significant pop last week. From March 30 to April 5, Choice cutouts sprung three percent higher and closed at US$288.62 per cwt. Select cutouts kept up with Choice, closing up 3.4 percent to $278.16 per cwt.
Cow price eases
Non-fed cattle in Alberta traded mixed last week. Alberta D2 cows eased lower, down another $3 per cwt. to close just shy of $130 per cwt. Alberta bulls closed $1 per cwt. higher to $148 per cwt.
Ontario D2 cows were off $2 per cwt. to $120 per cwt. Cow prices in both Western and Eastern Canada have softened in recent weeks, but it isn’t unusual to see a slight dip in cow prices in the spring.
Year to date, Canadian cow slaughter totalled 140,269 head, with weekly slaughter below 9,000 head for the first time this year. Western cow slaughter totalled 6,252 head in the week ending April 1, down 15 percent from the previous week.
For the first time this year, weekly western cow slaughter fell below year ago levels. The drop in weekly cow slaughter numbers is typical at this time of year.
