With feed grain prices at record highs and the Canadian dollar looking set to stay on its lofty perch, cattle prices are likely to be low, said Gene Parks, manager of the Pipestone, Man., and Whitewood, Sask., auction marts.
With the fall cattle run just beginning, 500-600 pound steers have stopped at $1.07 a lb. and heifers at 88-97 cents, he said. Cows are ranging from the 35 to 37 cents and bulls are bringing 30 to 40 cents.
Local interest should stabilize prices in coming months, he added, as more cattle are kept for backgrounding or to put on grass in the spring.
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“It’s early in the season and the cattle moving up to now have done surprisingly well considering everything that’s going on,” said Parks, who gave a market outlook at a cattle producers meeting in Pipestone last week.
“The big thing is if we don’t get flooded with cattle. Keep the numbers at a happy medium, keep the trucks rolling and we’ll just have to ride it out.”
Prices now are dictated by the fat cattle price, he said, which has fat heifers and steers in the mid to upper 70s and 83 cents, respectively. In comparison, he said, after BSE hit in 2003, the price was 57 to 65 cents.
“We’ve seen cattle at a lot lower price.”
Now is not the time for beginners to dabble in feeding cattle, he added.
“If you don’t fatten cattle, don’t,” he said. “Because it’s quite an experience.”
Typically, in a soft market, the variation in price between good, medium and plain cattle widens substantially, he added.
“That’s just how it is. They’re going to spread them apart. It’s not hard to see $12 to $14 spread on calves. With heifers it’s the same kind of deal. They are very selective.”
If one buyer has an order for a specific type of animal, and the other buyers are looking for something else, no bidding competition opens up and the final price shows that result, he said.
Parks expected a lot of bred cows to go on the block this fall, especially in Saskatchewan, where “quite a few” dispersal sales are scheduled. Prices are likely to be a continuation of what was seen last year, with thin, older cows fetching $350 to $500, medium cows at $500 to $635, better ones at $650 and “damn few” cows more than $900.
“Are we flooded with cows right now? No. We’ve had other years when we sold a ton of bred cows. And you know what? We always got them sold; they always went somewhere.”
Each year buyer resistance grows to cattle with poor coats and improperly castrated steers.
“If they’re taking slick cattle, it’s at a discount,” said Parks. “Ringing cattle and not doing a good job on them – guys are leery of cattle that come in and there’s no scrotum whatsoever.”
To avoid problems with shrinkage when shipping cattle, Parks recommended that sellers not stuff the animals full of feed before putting them on the truck.
“Guys think, ‘I’m shipping them 80 miles, I’ll fill them right up.’ Then when you go to open the door of the trailer, it runs out all over your feet. That’s shrink,” he said.
