(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Tight logistics underpin barley in Feedlot Alley

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The adverse 2019 harvest across Western Canada may have left more grain grading as feed than normal, but issues in getting that barley and wheat to livestock continue to prop up prices for the time being. “We’ve seen a rally in the feed barley market the last four weeks,” said Brandon Motz, of […] Read more

(WPohlDesign/iStock/Getty Images)

Klassen: Challenging weather influencing feeder market

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were relatively unchanged; calves appeared to trade $3 lower to as much as $5 higher. Weather conditions have played a larger role in the price structure this fall. Major finishing feedlots continue to focus on preconditioned calves and have left the unweaned or unvaccinated feeders to the […] Read more


Photo: File

Klassen: Feeder cattle market consolidation continues

Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle markets were unchanged from week-ago levels. Larger pre-sort calf sales were held across the prairies. Buying interest was barely sufficient to support the market at the current levels.  The risk tolerance shifted from medium to low this past week. Discounts appeared to be more severe on unweaned and unvaccinated calves. Colder […] Read more

Photo: File

Klassen: Feeder cattle market stabilizes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $2 to $3 on either side of unchanged. Most auction barns held feature sales over the past week and steady demand was noted across the prairies. Calves appeared to gain momentum late in the week with favorable weather enhancing buying interest; however, yearlings were quite […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market experiences bouncing behaviour

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $2-$4 higher on average; calves traded $2 to as much as $6 higher. The feeder market has recovered after a softer tone earlier in October. Favourable weather in southern Alberta over the past week caused Lethbridge-area feedlots to step forward more aggressively, especially in the lighter […] Read more



File photo of wheat under snow. (Ssvyat/iStock/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie grain market finding a bottom

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The western Canadian feed grain market is showing signs of finding a bottom, as buyers wait to get a better handle on the quality of grain still unharvested across the Prairies. Feed barley is currently trading at around $200 per tonne in southern Alberta, while feed wheat bids are around $210, according to […] Read more

(WPohlDesign/iStock/Getty Images)

Klassen: Adverse weather tempers feeder market

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3-$5 lower. Excessive snow in Alberta and ongoing rains across Manitoba and Saskatchewan set a negative tone. The market appeared to incorporate a risk discount, although many auction barns had limited numbers on offer. Buyers once again focused on local cattle and avoided transportation over […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Yearling prices remain firm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets were relatively unchanged with the exception of southern Alberta where 800-plus-lb. feeders traded $5 to as much as $8 higher. Strength in deferred live cattle futures and weakness in barley prices were the main factors driving demand in the Lethbridge area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s bullish […] Read more

Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. in early August 2017. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley’s slide slows as harvest drags

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The slide in western Canadian feed grain prices over the past few months shows signs of slowing, as concerns over harvest delays supplant earlier concerns over large crops and quality downgrades. “The weather over the next week or so doesn’t look that great,” Allen Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge said Thursday. […] Read more