Fewer cattle marketed
Fed cattle prices started May on a rising note thanks to lower volumes and greater interest from U.S. buyers.
Prices on May 1 were $84.50-$87.35 per hundredweight for steers and $83-$86.50 for heifers. The price range was wide, with few sales at the high end.
Volume was down 19 percent from the week before.
Wholesale beef prices held steady with Montreal at $169 per cwt. and Calgary at $137-$144.
Canfax said fed cattle prices should hold steady for another week or two before being pressured by larger marketings expected this summer.
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Feeder cattle were up $2-$4 per cwt. last week as demand remained strong. The number of cattle sold was up 37 percent from the previous week.
Canfax says the outlook for the rest of the spring will depend on the number and quality of cattle offered. A weaker fed cattle market will also keep a lid on feeder prices.
Hogs still high
Prairie hog prices were up again last week in step with U.S. cash prices. Early in the week the Omaha price was $59.75 per cwt. live, but declined to $58.50 May 1 when supplies increased because showers in the U.S. Midwest allowed farmers to take a break from field work and deliver hogs.
Manitoba Agriculture says U.S. hog marketings are below what they were at this time in 1996. Average hog weight is up about four kilograms, indicating hog operations are backed up.
Sheep prices held steady last week. Canada West Foods in Alberta bid $2.40 a pound for railgrade old-crop lambs and $2.50 for new crop.
