Fed cattle prices recover
For the first time since mid-March, fed cattle markets made gains on
the weekly averages, with steers gaining 50 cents per hundredweight and
heifers gaining $1.
It’s been a dismal six weeks since the free fall started and any sign
of stability was welcome, Canfax said.
Bidding started slow, but picked up by May 1.
Volumes topped 25,000 head for the week, but that was down 10 percent
from the previous week’s big run.
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Canfax said most feedlots appear to be selling cattle as they become
ready for market instead of holding them, but weights are still 23
pounds higher than a year ago.
Alberta prices May 2 were steers $93.50- $95.85 per cwt., flat rail
$152.35-$158.10 and heifers $93.50-$96.25, flat rail $157.50.
While cattle prices stopped their decline, wholesale beef prices didn’t.
The Montreal price fell by $2-$3 per cwt. to $166-$167.
The Calgary market is steady to $2 lower in a range of $157-$169 on the
regular weights, with a smaller number of heavies at $154- $155.
American hide prices rose, but credit values in Canada didn’t follow
suit because of the loonie’s higher value.
Canfax said packers are finally picking up the pace of slaughter.
Many regions across Canada could still use better spring barbecue
weather to spur meat demand.
Feeder prices rise
Feeders ended the week stronger, mostly 25 cents to $3 per cwt. higher
on all classes.
Replacement-type heifers were reported $8-$10 higher at some markets.
Recent moisture has buyers looking for grass cattle. Most light-fleshed
calves sold $5-$8 stronger than the previous week.
All other classes were stronger, based mostly on quality and also
because of the seasonally smaller volumes.
The total feeder volume was 27,000 head, down five percent from the
previous week and five percent down from last year.
Slaughter cows traded steady to $1 stronger.
Canfax said feeder volumes will be small for the next few months. This
may create some stronger prices due to empty pen space in finishing and
backgrounding feedlots.
The demand for all classes should hold prices steady to slightly
stronger, with a larger emphasis on quality and type.
If moisture continues, the replacement heifer trade and grass cattle
sales may see improvement in the coming weeks.
Bred cow trade is mostly done for the season.
Cows sold at $800-$1,300, mostly $1,050-$1,200, and bred heifers were
$900-$1,250, with the bulk at $1,050-$1,150.
The number of cow-calf pairs has started to increase as is normal for
the season, with prices at $1,000-$1,700, but most selling at
$1,250-$1,550.
Hog price hike elusive
Adequate hog supplies, continued weak demand for pork and lower pork
prices ruled out stronger hog prices in the United States last week,
Manitoba Agriculture said.
The Iowa-Minnesota daily direct hog price (plant mean, 51-52 percent
lean, live equivalent) decreased from $33.94 US per cwt. on April 29 to
$32.90 on May 2.
On average, the week’s hog price was about 3.8 percent below the
previous week’s price.
Ample supplies of competing meat contributed to the recent weak demand
for pork. This was the main factor that drove April hog prices well
below last year, when prices were unexpectedly high because of the
strong demand for North American pork.
April hog slaughter was about three percent above the level of a year
ago, but April hog prices fell by almost 33 percent, Manitoba
Agriculture said. Even if hog slaughter in May is slightly lower than
May 2001, it is unlikely that hog prices will exceed $40 per cwt. this
month. If hog slaughter is as predicted in June, hog prices could
remain in the mid-to-high $30s per cwt.
Ron Plain and Glenn Grimes of the University of Missouri said that the
April 1 U.S. Department of Agriculture hogs and pigs report indicated
the March pig crop was up one percent. This is consistent with
farrowing intentions for the second quarter as reported in the March
report.
The surprise in the report was litter size, which was down slightly
from a year earlier.
However, the report indicated that productivity growth in litters per
animal in the breeding herd was up 1.1 percent from a year earlier.
The number of sows and gilts bred in March was up a bit from 0.5
percent in 2001.
