Feeder cattle prices rise
Average fed cattle prices improved last week with steers up $4.50 per
hundredweight and heifers up $4.25.
Prices rose all week due to tighter supplies and cold weather, said
Canfax.
Volumes traded increased with 15,500 head sold, up 11 percent from the
previous week. Yearlings still made up most of the trade, but the
percentage of calves is creeping up.
Most buyers were Canadian, although some cattle went south.
Alberta prices March 7 were steers $110.50-$113.25 per cwt., flat rail
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$188.45-$191.40 and heifers $109.25-$112, flat rail $188-$190.50.
The wholesale beef business is normally slow this time of year, but was
particularly slow due to the cold.
Expectations are for sales to continue at this pace until after Easter
when barbecue season approaches.
The higher live market drove up wholesale prices. Calgary rose $2-$6,
with handyweights at $176-$194 per cwt. and heavy carcasses at
$172-$178. Montreal rose by $1-$3 to $182-$183 per cwt.
Canfax said given that there is no backup at feedlots, the feeder has
bargaining clout for the next few weeks. This signals steady to firmer
prices for fed cattle.
Cold was a major factor in the feeder market. Only 28,700 head were
sold at auction, down 42 percent from the week before and 49 percent
fewer than the same week last year.
Feeder steers were 25 cents to $2.75 per cwt. higher, with most of the
strength on feeders under 800 pounds. Heifers rose by the same price
range, but mostly on classes over 500 lb. American and Canadian buyers
seemed active.
In the slaughter cow market, D1, 2 cows rose by $3.70 per cwt. on
average with top sales hitting $75.
Canfax expects feeder volumes to increase back to normal levels as the
weather moderates.
The feeder basis is still wider than normal for this time of year,
meaning American buyers will continue to provide a floor price.
Canadian buyers are becoming more active, but are more selective in
buying feeders that fit their programs.
Stock cow trade volumes were down.
Most bred cows were $950-$1,250 with a top of $1,450 and a bottom of
$800. Bred heifers were $800-$1,250. Some cow-calf pairs were
$1,100-$1,550.
Cold helps hog prices
Hog prices started the week strong, but fell March 6 in response to
additional hog supplies resulting from a mid-week strike at Smithfield
Ltd.’s slaughter and processing plant in Virginia.
With expectations of marketing delays due to adverse weather conditions
in the upper U.S. Midwest and northern Plains later in the week, prices
rose again March 7, said Manitoba Agriculture.
The Iowa-Minnesota daily direct hog price (plant mean, 51-52 percent
lean, live equivalent) opened the week at $40.84 US per cwt., fell to
$39.52 a cwt. on March 6, but was up again to $40.15 March 7. On
average, the week’s hog price was about 0.3 percent below the previous
week’s price.
