Beef prices jump
Fed cattle prices rebounded last week, rising about $3 per hundredweight on steers and $3.75 on heifers.
Canfax cited fewer heavy cattle and more calves in the mix as the cause. Also, it appeared Canadian packers were caught with short supply. A few cattle were sold to American packers.
Prices March 5 were steers $79.35-$85.95 per cwt. and heifers $82.65-$85.80.
On the meat side, the wholesale beef price was steady at $168 per cwt. in Montreal, but with higher cash cattle prices, packers will try to boost the meat price.
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Canfax says the beef complex is still under pressure. The recent increase is due to the basis narrowing, a better quality mix of cattle and packers running hand to mouth and sometimes getting caught short. Any significant increase in the number of cattle offered could cause prices to slip again. For now, the short-term outlook is for steady prices in the mid $80s.
The cow trade saw prices dip $2 per cwt. Cheaper chucks from fed cattle have put pressure on the grinding meat area. The outlook is for steady prices.
In the feeder cattle market, Canfax said heavier classes continued under pressure. Cattle over 800 lb. saw declines of 50 cents to $1 per cwt.
Lightweight grass cattle were steady to $1 higher. Volumes were up over last week and over the same week last year.
Canfax said the outlook is for steady prices on lighter cattle, particularly since recent snowfall in parts of the Prairies has improved the outlook for grass.
In stock cow trade, the bulk of bred cows traded $850-$1,100. Bred heifers traded at $850-$1,000 and cow-calf pairs were $800-$1,220.
Pork glut affects prices
Manitoba Agriculture said U.S. packers still had no incentive to raise hog prices above the $32-$34 (U.S.) per cwt. (live) level last week because pork and hog supplies are ample. Packer break-even prices were close to $37 per cwt. so there is room to raise bids if necessary.
Prices are supposed to strengthen in the next month due to ham buying for Easter, increased pork consumption and improved exports of pork. An American analyst is concerned the supply of hogs moving into the United States as a result of the strike at Maple Leaf Meats Burlington, Ont. plant is responsible for depressing U.S. hog prices by $3-$4 (U.S.) per cwt. Other analysts note the additional hog exports amount to less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. weekly hog slaughter, so the effect on prices is probably minimal.
Manitoba Index 100 hog prices (including premiums) rose from $117.40 per hundred kilograms Feb. 27 to over $120 ckg early in the week, but declined on March 4 and again on March 5.
Manitoba Pork said its 12-month average price for locking in hogs is about $58 per cwt. This price is significantly below last year’s $81 per cwt. and the 10-year average of $67 per cwt. Producers should expect hog prices to increase by the end of the year to the 10-year average.
