Beef slaughter sets record
Last week’s Canadian slaughter level was the largest weekly kill since 1986. Given carcasses are 60 pounds larger now than they were in 1986, last week set a record for fed cattle production, said Canfax.
Stronger prices are enticing sellers to move cattle ahead of schedule and feedlots are carrying no surplus.
Canfax thinks short-term markets might stay in the mid to upper $80s, but by early June, prices are expected to weaken.
Feeder cattle and calves were up last week due to tight supplies. Averages were $2-$3 per hundredweight higher.
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With lower barley prices boosting demand, Canfax expects the feeder market to rise.
Canadian hog prices were lower last week, affected by the rising Canadian dollar and lower U.S. wholesale markets.
But prices at Omaha closed stronger Friday at $59.50 per cwt.
Saskatchewan hog board SPI Marketing notes that while the Japanese want particular products, they won’t pay premiums and will shift to other meats if prices get too high. So although it appears to be a sellers’ market in Japan, sellers are learning they need to tailor their products to meet Japanese desires.
Old-crop lamb railgrade bids at Canada West Foods Corp. in Alberta were unchanged at $2.40 a lb. Bids for new-crop lambs increased to $2.55 per lb. from $2.50 the previous week. Slaughter ewes are 34 cents per lb., up two cents. In Brandon, Man., bids for market lambs 95-110 lb. were unchanged at $1.18 per lb. live.
