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Agriculture Roundup for Tuesday December 15, 2020

Dec 15, 2020 | 10:40 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – Feeder cattle prices were mixed last week.

Canfax reported the biggest price drop was in the feeder steer 300 to 400 pound and 900 pound and over weight classes.

The 400-to-500-pound steer class was the only category to report a price increase for a provincial average of $248.75 per hundredweight.

The heifer class had very small increases and declines of just $2 per hundredweight.

Canfax reported roughly 19,000 head of cattle sold in Saskatchewan last week, down from 28,400 the previous week.

Prices of live, non-fed cattle in Alberta were mixed in the latest report.

Manitoba Ag Days has been cancelled for 2021 but organizers have found a way to connect with the public.

General Manager Kristen Phillips said the organization conducted surveys and found most people did not want a virtual event.

She said they still wanted to reach out and have decided to deliver a publication, produced and published in house, focused on exhibitors.

The publication, which is available in print, online, and through social media will be released in early January.

The Innovation Showcase competition will be held online with prize money available for the winners. The Ag Days Gives Back Community Giving Program will also continue this year with an online 50/50 draw.

Statistics Canada said Canadian maple producers harvested 14.3 million gallons of maple syrup in 2020, surpassing the 2019 record by 8.3 per cent.

The increased production resulted in total sales of $558.5 million in 2020, up 7.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Quebec producers, who account for almost three-quarters of global maple syrup production and 90 per cent of Canadian production, harvested 13.2 million gallons in 2020, up 9.8 per cent from 2019.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, maple producers were forced to cease in-person visits to farms and other activities of their business that normally draw large crowds.

alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF