By Alice McFarlane

More Saskatchewan cattle heading to the auction market

Aug 20, 2021 | 4:42 PM

MELFORT, Sask. — There are more cattle going to market earlier in the year in Saskatchewan as producers run short of feed and pastures and water sources dry up.

Provincial cattle specialist Natasha Wilkie said it’s not surprising given the conditions.

“Canfax reported a total of 8,814 cattle for sale in Saskatchewan last week. That’s higher than the 5,087 head the previous week, and quite a bit higher than the 2,215 head marketed during the same week in 2020,” Wilkie said.

The cull cow market took a hit. Wilkie said D2 slaughter cows prices went down $1.58 per hundredweight (cwt) to end the week averaging $80.50 per hundredweight.

“We look at the D3 slaughter cows and they went down $1.36 for the previous week, and so they ended the week at $71.83 per cwt,” Wilkie said.

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The report also had all categories of steers and heifers reporting prices.

Wilkie said one of factors pushing up most prices had to do with the cost of feed.

“Throughout the summer those feed grain prices continued to climb so that can affect both the heifer and steer cash markets,” Wilkie said. “Some good news is the beef cutout prices have been going up the last couple of weeks.”

Feeder steer prices ranged from $266.88 per cwt for the 300-to-400-pound weight category to $177.80 per cwt for the 900 plus pound weight category.

Prices for the 800-to-900-pound weight category increased $4.61 per cwt to average $190.86.

Wilkie said the other price category story came in the 900 plus pound weight category.

“They went down $4.03 per cwt to end the week averaging $137.80,” she said.

Heifer prices ranged there from $213.20 per cwt for the 300 to 400 pound weight category to $171.40 per cwt in the 800 plus pound weight category.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW