Little interest drops prices
Fed cattle prices dropped $1 per hundredweight early last week and stayed there.
Packer demand was mediocre and only a few cattle were shipped to the United States. Feedlots weren’t eager to sell and passed on some bids, Canfax said.
The number of cattle sold was significantly down from the week before.
Alberta prices June 25 were steers $81-$82.65 per cwt. and heifers $80-83.
The wholesale beef market is slow and prices are slipping. Canfax says it might take lower prices to move the large supplies of beef coming through the system. Carcass weights rose last week for the first time in several weeks and overweight cattle were heavily discounted.
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Byproduct prices slipped again due to Asian economic weakness.
Canfax said the holidays this week will result in a reduced kill that may shrink the amount of meat in the system, but that won’t help the backup in feedlots. Carcasses tend to get heavier from now into the fall.
The short-term outlook is for steady prices.
Cow prices in Western Canada rose on average $1 per cwt. last week.
Feeder steer prices rallied in most places, but heifers fell, said Canfax.
Drought-struck areas were still reporting larger runs of cattle than usual. Canfax said good quality cattle prices are holding up, but plain animals are fluctuating.
There were only a few bred cow and heifer sales. Bred cows prices were $550-$950 with the bulk at $850-$950, bred heifers were $550-$800. Cow-calf pairs were $630-$1,330 with the bulk at $800-$1,050.
Pork prices slow to rise
Manitoba Agriculture said improved seasonal demand for bacon raised wholesale pork belly prices, but American packers appeared to be paying below break-even prices for hogs for most of last week.
Omaha cash prices fell to $40 (U.S.) per cwt. on June 26 from $43.50 at the beginning of the week. Canadian prices also dropped.
Ron Grimes, a pork analyst from the University of Missouri, expects that May marked the high price for this year. He thinks U.S. prices will average close to $40 through the summer. But the heat that enveloped the United States Midwest last week slowed weight gain and that could boost prices if the heat continues.
