Fed cattle numbers drop
Fed cattle prices were mostly steady to 25 cents per hundredweight lower, said Canfax.
Packers appear content with prices hovering around $70 per cwt. live, or $120 dressed.
A few sellers passed on bids, but 16,500 head sold, down 22 percent from the week before.
Alberta prices June 17 were steers $72 per cwt. and heifers $70.75-$72.50, flat rail $119.20.
Market-ready volumes in large commercial feedlots are not burdensome. The question is how many market-ready cattle there are outside of these known numbers.
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If later placements and slower weight gains have been the case in these other operations, then larger supplies of market-ready cattle may be expected in August to October, said Canfax.
On the other hand, if numbers increase sooner rather than later, the pressure will be on nearby prices.
It appears U.S. cutouts might have hit their peak, said Canfax. U.S. cutouts fell sharply as sales typically do after Father’s Day. The Choice cutout was down $10 US and Select was down $4.
Canadian wholesale carcasses are steady to $2 Cdn lower with Montreal at $140-$144 and Calgary steady to $3 lower at $134-$136.
Byproduct values were stronger with higher hide prices and rendering values.
Feeder prices mixed
The Alberta auction markets saw 8,500 head trade, down 10 percent.
Steers 300-500 lb. were $2.50-$4 lower this week, although on light numbers, and 500-600 lb. held steady. Steers 600-700 lb. traded $1 per cwt. higher; while 700-800 lb. traded $1 lower. Better demand was seen for heavier feeder steers, 800-900 lb. and therefore prices were up $1.75-$2.50.
Heifers 300-500 lb. traded 50 cents-$1 lower, while 500-600 lb. were steady. Heifers 600-700 lb. were up $3.50 and 700-900 lb. were 75 cents-$1.75 stronger. Heifer’s 900 lb. and heavier were down $2 per cwt.
D1, 2 cows held steady to slightly stronger and slaughter bulls traded $1.25 stronger. D1, 2 cows are expected to hold steady in the coming weeks.
Continued uncertainty and pessimism in the fed market will be reflected in the feeder market in the coming weeks. But, with small volumes moving through the system, only a few buyers are needed to hold prices, said Canfax.
Buyer interest will vary at different locations leading to a wide price range.
Stock bred cows were $275-$450 on older cows and $450-$750 on younger cows in central and northern Alberta. There were no bred cow sales in southern Alberta, said Canfax.
Bred heifers in northern Alberta were $275-$750.
This week cow-calf pairs brought $300-$500 on older and poorer cows, while cows in good shape ranged between $500-$1,075.
U.S. hog slaughter busy
Cash prices for hogs in the U.S. decreased about one percent last week despite steady wholesale cut-out prices, said Manitoba Agriculture. The Iowa-Minnesota daily direct hog price (plant mean, 51-52 percent, lean carcass converted to live weight) fell from $59.61 US per cwt. June 14 to $58.94 June 17. Packers killed fewer hogs during the week, but the numbers are still fairly high.
Slaughter at U.S. federal plants was about 1.896 million, up 5.7 percent from the same week last year.
Ron Plain of the University of Missouri said slaughter for the past four weeks was up nearly five percent from a year earlier. Increased numbers of slaughter hogs imported from Canada added about one percent to U.S. slaughter during April.
Manitoba hog prices increased by about 3.5 percent,
Lambs prices dip
Ontario Stockyards Inc. said 2,701 sheep and lambs and 243 goats traded. Grain fed lambs, all weights, traded $5-$10 cwt. lower, while plainer types sold under further pressure. Sheep and goats held steady.
