Volume and Prices Increasing in Sask Cattle Market

Saskatchewan's auction ring for cattle continues to be a busy place as some prices begin to rise.

"The markets are up year-over-year about 30 per cent," Natasha Wilkie, a provincial cattle specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, said. "That being said we didn't have as many numbers going through the auction mart last fall."

Last week according to Canfax, 7,227 head of cattle were sold in Saskatchewan, up from the 5,552 head sold during the same week in 2020.

Feeder steer prices were mainly higher across all weight categories, with prices ranging from $272.88 per hundred weight for the 300-400lb weight category to $184.50 per hundred weight for the 900+ category. The largest price increase was seen in the 400-500lb weight category, with prices improving by $6.75 per cwt to end the week averaging $250.00 per cwt. The largest price decrease was seen in the 600-700lb weight category, with prices declining $3.65 per cwt to end the week averaging $210.35 per cwt.

Feeder heifers were also mostly higher, with prices ranging from $221.94 per cwt for the 300-400lb weight category to $177.35 cwt for the 800+lb weight category. The largest price increase was seen in the 300-400lb weight category, with prices improving $12.44 per cwt to end the week averaging $221.94 per cwt. The largest price decrease was seen in the 500-600lb weight category, with prices declining $2.23 per cwt to end the week averaging $188.10 per cwt.

"We were pretty lucky last week, everything was pretty steady," she said. "We saw feed steer prices, feed barley prices based out of Lethbridge, and also that auction mart volume, they were all fairly similar so that would have helped those prices out. We also saw feed corn prices out of the states drop significantly."

Wilkie added that slaughter cow prices mostly as well.

"The price for Alberta fed steers was reported at $156.27 per hundred weight, so they went up $1.88 from the previous week's price," she said. "We saw the price D2 slaughter cows go down just slightly, dropping $0.04 per hundred weight from the previous week to average $76.40. And when we look at the price of D3 slaughter cows they saw a good increase of $1.09 per hundred weight so they ended the week averaging $67.42 per hundred weight."