Beef prices strong
SASKATOON (Staff) – There was good news heading into the long weekend for the beef trade in Western Canada, said the latest Canfax report.
It’s the first long weekend of the summer and consumers got to cut loose and throw a few steaks on the barbeque.
There was plenty of beef moving in Canada and it looks good for strong beef sales in the upcoming American Memorial Day weekend.
The Montreal and Calgary wholesale markets have settled down. The effect of lower wholesales and potentially firmer cash trade could mean a squeeze on packer margins, reported Canfax. With close to 55,000 head of cattle killed in Canada each week and more than 720,000 killed each week in the U.S., there needs to be good movement of beef to keep the prices up.
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Fed cattle prices firmed up slightly by mid-week. Some trade was just over the $80 mark, putting smiles on the faces of those in the cattle industry.
Alberta packers will continue to take their market signals from the American market and markets could be choppy with a few more high prices and a lot more low prices in the coming months. Be prepared to sell when the price looks good, Canfax advises.
Cow prices remained steady. There were fewer cows offered for sale. There are plenty of cheap chucks around and a wide price spread in the American market.
In the hog industry, Alberta continue to lead the way in the number of hogs marketed and price offered. So far it has shipped 787,381 hogs to date. This week’s price was up by $1.277 per cwt., just slightly over Saskatchewan’s rise of $1.273. It has marketed 423,802 hogs for the year. Manitoba wasn’t reporting this week.P. 14: Companies trade elevators in push for centralization
