Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Acquiring livestock feed has been increasingly expensive as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and a retaliatory ban on Russian oil imports by many Western nations, has caused oil prices to severely rise every day. As corn imports from the U.S. continue to make their way into Alberta feedlots, the cost to transport them […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Rising oil prices increase freight charges
Klassen: Feeder market shows resilience
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $2-$3 on either side of unchanged. Calves in the range of 600-800 lbs. traded steady to $4 higher. Calves under 600 lbs. were $1-$2 higher in Alberta and Saskatchewan but traded $2-$3 lower in Manitoba. Alberta feedlot operators appeared to shrug off the geopolitical events last […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Prices steady, but changes coming
Feedlots moving to full corn rations
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — With feed barley and wheat supplies on the verge of running out, prices remain firm, according to Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge. “They’re on the positive side of stationary,” he said, noting prices could soon change following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. “With what’s going on with Ukraine and […] Read more
Klassen: Weather factors influence calf prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $4 lower to as much as $5 higher. Mid-weight feeder cattle traded relatively unchanged with strong demand noted on steers. Steer calves were firm, trading $2-$5 higher while heifer calves traded $4-$5 on either side of unchanged. The market was hard to define for calves and […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Big demand lacking for barley, wheat
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley have swung a little higher over the last week — but it’s not due to feedlots needing a lot of the cereal, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. Barley prices, he said, were $420-$424 per tonne delivered into Lethbridge, with offers as high as $445 […] Read more
Klassen: Demand increases for lighter-weight feeder cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were unchanged to $4 higher. Mid-weight feeders from 660 to 750 pounds traded $2 to as much as $6 higher on average. Feeder cattle in the 550- to 650-lb. range traded $4 to as much as $10 higher. Feeder cattle under 550 lbs. were up $10-$20 depending […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Alberta blockade affects feed grain deliveries
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — A truck blockade at a Canada-U.S. border crossing at Coutts, Alta. has caused some headaches for grain buyers in southern parts of the province. Since Saturday, commercial trucks and other vehicles have blocked Highway 4, a 103-km stretch which runs from the border to Lethbridge, to protest COVID-19 health measures. On the U.S. […] Read more
Transport strains pile on drought-induced feed shortages
Importing U.S. corn not cheap
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian farmers say they are just days away from running out of feed for cattle, due to severe drought last summer damaging crops needed to fatten them over winter and transportation bottlenecks. The drought devastated Prairie pastures and has now forced feedlots in Alberta, the main cattle-producing province, to buy more […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market softens on tight feed grain supply
Ontario buying interest subsides
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, prices for yearling steers were down $2-$4 while yearling heifers were down $4 to as much as $8. Calf markets were down $3-$6 from last week. Negative feeding margins, colder temperatures and tight feed grain supplies were the three main factors setting a negative tone in the feeder market. Rail imports […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Status quo for now, but change coming
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Feed grains in Western Canada have been holding close to the status quo for the last little while, but that’s likely to change, according to Jim Beusekom of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. He pointed to increases in corn and wheat this week in U.S. futures markets, in which corn has gained about […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
