The Cattle Market Update from Canfax shows available prices for feeder heifers in Saskatchewan were mostly up while two feeder steer weight categories had enough data to record a price, but not enough to compare week-over-week changes.
In the update for the week ending September 20, the price for 400-500 pound feeder steers was $446.50 and the price for 600-700 pound steers was $369.96. The rest of the categories lacked enough data to establish a price. Meanwhile, prices for feeder heifers ranged from $316.93 in the 700-800 pound category, down 70 cents week-over-week, up to $357.47 cwt in the 500-600 pound category, an increase of 14 cents compared to the prior week. The other category reported, 600-700 pound heifers, had an increase of $1.41 to $337.13.
For comparison, below are charts from the previous two cattle market updates:
Emily Schmidt, a Livestock Intern at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, says the main factor is a low volume of cattle going to market as producers are instead keeping them on pasture longer. Last week saw 3,264 head of cattle sold at auction, down 5,000 head the previous week and below the 12,049 head marketed during the same week last year. The year-to-date total of Saskatchewan cattle marketed at auction are down 22 per cent from the same time last year at 231,107 head.
Looking at Alberta cow prices, the price for live, non-fed Alberta cattle were higher in the week ending September 20 compared to the previous week. Canfax reported “the price of D2 slaughter cows averaged $184.53 per cwt, an increase of $0.44 per cwt from the previous week. The price of D3 slaughter cows increased $1.70 per cwt from the prior week to average $171.20
per cwt.
The Canfax price for Alberta fed steers for the week ending September 20 was $243.71 per cwt, an increase of $1.28 per cwt from the previous week. One year ago, the price for Alberta fed steers was $232.87 per cwt for the week ending September 22, 2023. Prices have increased $10.84 per cwt for Alberta fed steers since this week last year.”