After sliding for the last few weeks, the cattle market clawed back some ground this week, in U.S. dollar terms, at least.
As Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock notes in our latest Beef Market Update, the basis for Canadian cattle values has quietly flipped.
“Instead of our cash cattle prices trading above the U.S. equivalent market, we’ve now dropped below, and well below where we were at this time last year,” she says. “We’ve gone from one extreme to the other. That kind of ‘quietly’ happened, but at the same time, it’s real money that’s gone.”
While the market is anticipating big supplies in fall, she says profitability for cattle feeders earlier this year should help support prices during the fall run, which could be here before we know it with the drought in many areas.
“Even though cattle prices are coming down, the Canadian dollar is coming up and there are lots of question marks around what feed prices are going to be this fall, that will be supportive,” notes Anne.
Anne Wasko joined Kelvin Heppner to discuss how the market is lining up for fall, better-than-expected Canadian export numbers in May, how drought is taking a toll on pastures and more:
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