Fed cattle mixed
SASKATOON (Staff) – Fed cattle prices were choppy last week, opening on an easier note but firming in later trading.
On July 27, steers were bid between $79-$80.90 per hundredweight. Heifers were bid between $78-$80.50, with top sales to $81.25, Canfax reported.
Feedlots are caught up on marketings, Canfax said, which means volumes on offer were light. American buyers at first weren’t interested in buying but perked up later in the week, likely due to a softer Canadian dollar.
Other trends in trading included a clear packer bias against cattle weighing more than 1,350 pounds. Canfax reported these cattle were bid at the low end of the range.
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While trade was leisurely in Canada, prices were heating up across the line. Feedlots in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma sold out their showlists, forcing packers to raise their bids by $1-$2 (U.S.) per cwt. to $62 by the end of the week. The United States department of agriculture reported Kansas feedlots sold 115,000 head of cattle, a record.
Aggressive selling
Canfax said aggressive feedlot selling will allow the industry to enter August, typically a month when slaughter cattle prices struggle, in fairly good shape.
Fed cattle prices in Canada slid a bit but cow prices slid a lot, succumbing to weak demand for boxed beef and slow retail and wholesale sales. D1 and D2 cows were bid from $42-$56, with top sales between $58-$60 per cwt. on grain-fed cows only. Railgrade bids were between $93-$96 per cwt.
