Reading Time: 2 minutes The year-over-year decline in last year’s calf crop has caused the market to set new records. Larger finishing feedlots are setting the price structure as many of these lots have seasonal low inventory. The quality of yearlings coming off grass is excellent with buyers shopping for feed efficiencies.
Klassen: Western Canadian yearling prices hit fresh record highs
Klassen: Feeder market leaps higher
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending July 20, Western Canadian yearlings traded $8-$15 above prices from seven days earlier. Values for larger groups of quality calves were up $8 to $10 from a week earlier while run of the mill smaller packages were relatively unchanged.
Klassen: Buyers tasting feeder cattle prices for fall run
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending July 2, Western Canadian yearling prices were steady to $5 higher compared to seven days earlier for larger packages. Small groups of 800-pound-plus cattle were $10 to $15 discounted to pen-sized lots. Calf markets were relatively unchanged from the prior week, although volume was limited. There is significant open demand for yearlings and finishing feedlot operators are watching how prices develop.
Klassen: Strong demand underpins yearlings
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, yearlings traded steady to $4 higher on average; calves traded $2-$4 lower, although light volumes made the market hard to define. All eyes were on feeder cattle futures, which closed up nearly $4 for the week. This set the direction in Western Canada. Auction barns in Manitoba and Saskatchewan remain in […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle market drawing attention
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, Western Canadian yearling prices were $2 to $4 higher while calf markets traded $2 to $4 on either side of unchanged. U.S. prices were also up $2 to $4 which lent support to Canadian domestic values. Volumes remain thin across the prairies; many producers are busy with silage operations and pasture […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market banks on fed cattle recovery
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were $4 higher to $4 lower, with the exception of southern Alberta where quality packages were unchanged to $6 higher. Calves and grass cattle traded $2 lower to as much as $5 higher. Certain auctions in Western Canada reported calves trading $4 to as much as $8 […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market digesting lower beef demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were down $12-$18; mid-weight calves were down $10 to as much as $15 while calves under 550 lbs. were down $4-$8. The market is incorporating a risk discount due to uncertainty in beef demand for the second and third quarters of 2020. Feedlot margins are in negative […] Read more
Klassen: Coronavirus fears weigh on feeder markets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder prices were not immune to the meltdown of financial and commodity markets last week. Buyers appeared to incorporate a risk discount due to uncertainty in beef demand over the next few months. Compared to last week, larger groups of quality yearlings traded $3-$5 lower while smaller packages were down $4 to as […] Read more
Klassen: Calves remain firm while yearlings falter
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $3-$5 lower while calves and grassers traded within $5 on either side of unchanged. Calves were extremely variable with similar weight cattle sometimes trading $6-$8 apart at the same sale. Supplies of calves coming on the market appear to be lower than last year. This may […] Read more
Klassen: Calf prices divorce from yearling markets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, yearling prices were steady to as much as $4 lower depending on the region in Western Canada. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle at an average price of $252 on a dressed basis, down $6-$8 from last week and down about $20 from the last week of January. Weakness in fed […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
