Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s that time of year when available supplies start to decline. At the same time, demand is limited. Most backgrounding operators have sufficient numbers and demand for grassers is waning. Ontario interest was noted in Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan, which appeared to sustain prices near last week’s levels.
Klassen: Feeder cattle market takes defensive tone
Alberta urges Trudeau to head off port and rail strikes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do all he can to head off potentially devastating strikes by railway and port workers.
Seeding in Alberta ahead of pace
Reading Time: 2 minutes Overall spring seeding of all crops in Alberta was just over 18 per cent complete, according to the province’s first crop report of 2024. The pace was nearly seven points above the five-year average.
Feed Grain Weekly: A bearish market, especially in southern Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sufficient supplies of domestic barley and wheat along with the ongoing influx of corn from United States, have continued to keep a lid on feed grain prices on the Canadian Prairies. That’s especially so in southern Alberta, according to Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge.
Prairie forecast: Mild with a chance of showers
Reading Time: 3 minutes A large area of low pressure stalled out just south of the Prairies early this week, bringing some much-needed significant rains that stretched from western Manitoba through Saskatchewan and into Alberta. This low is forecasted to rapidly break down over the next day or so and make way for some nice late-spring weather.
Klassen: Feeder cattle experience weather market
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending May 4, Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were quite variable and the market was hard to define. Alberta and certain regions of Saskatchewan received snow, which caused the market to trade $3 to $5 lower. However, in Eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, feeder cattle prices were steady to $3 higher.
Feed grain weekly: Seeding well underway in Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes Feed grain bids in the Lethbridge area were finding some support in early May as farmers in the region focus their attention on spring seeding.
Prairie forecast: Cool and unsettled weather to continue
Forecast issued May 1, 2024, covering May 1-8
Reading Time: 3 minutes The weather and subsequent forecasts lately have been—to state it simply—a mess. A very active but difficult to forecast pattern has developed across much of Canada and the northern U.S. states. This has brought damp and cool weather to most regions of the Prairies and unfortunately, it looks like this weather will be sticking around at least until the weekend.
Klassen: Stronger fed market underpins feeder complex
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending April 27, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets were relatively unchanged compared to seven days earlier.
Prairie forecast: Typical spring weather expected; not dry, not wet
Forecast issued April 24, 2024; covering: April 24 – May 1
Reading Time: 4 minutes It looks like this will be a good news, bad news forecast. For those of you hoping for rain, it may be good news. For those wanting things to dry out enough to get out working, it's a bit of bad news. The one thing, which is typical for spring forecasts, is that there's a fair bit of uncertainty.
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
