It’s not often, and never a good thing, when the basis drops lower than the temperature. Anne Wasko, with the Gateway Livestock Exchange, says that the chilly basis in Western Canada, currently at about -30 to the U.S. cash market, is certainly reason for cattle feeders to look forward to a calendar flip. “It is… Read More
Category: Meat Markets
Update, as of Nov. 9: Maple Leaf Foods says it is implementing workarounds to maintain operations at its plants while a team of cybersecurity experts continues to work on resolving the “comprehensive” outage caused by a cyberattack. CEO Michael McCain told investors in a quarterly earnings call on Nov. 8 that all the company’s plants… Read More
Not for the first time this year, the Canadian and U.S. cattle market are out of sync. As Anne Wasko explains in this week’s episode of the Beef Market Update, it’s becoming a bit of a frustrating topic, as she had hoped we wouldn’t still be talking about it in October. Check out the full… Read More
This weeks’ episode of the Beef Market Update is coming to you from the back of a horse, which is likely as authentic as we can get while we’re talking cattle markets. Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange is moving cattle, as yes, we approach October. In the U.S., Wasko says this week is… Read More
September is seasonally not a stand out time for beef prices, yet we are starting to see some prices trend in a positive direction as the U.S. may be on the heels of another record year for beef production. Anne Wasko with the Gateway Livestock Exchange says to date, the U.S. beef production is running… Read More
September has started off on a bit lower of a note in the cash cattle trade. Which, given the time of the year, isn’t all that surprising. According to Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange, U.S. fed cattle was down to $141 in the south for live trade, while the northern states sat in… Read More
Many eyes are focusing on the latest CanFax report, and Anne Wasko, of the Gateway Livestock Exchange is one of those pairs of eyes. Particularly the August cattle-on-feed numbers — which were down by three per cent. What is so exciting about that? As Wasko explains, it’s the first time we’ve seen on feed numbers… Read More
August is starting out with an optimistic undertone in the cattle markets with fed cattle prices faring better than analysts may have predicted. In the southern U.S., prices are rounding out around $1 higher at $136 towards weeks end, whereas the north is holding a premium at $142 to $146 and their dressed market is… Read More
As we approach the back half of July (!!), what many consider the dog days of summer have arrived. It seems the cattle markets would agree. In the southern U.S., Texas trade is sitting lower than it has been, at $136, says Anne Wasko, in this week’s Beef Market Update. In the northern U.S., it’s… Read More
Saskatchewan’s opposition party is adding its voice to the group calling for an investigation into beef and cattle pricing in Canada. New NDP leader Carla Beck, accompanied by Agriculture Critic Trent Wotherspoon, toured the Ag in Motion farm show this week, and spoke to RealAgriculture about what she sees as priorities for the agriculture sector… Read More
As the large pricing gap continues between cattle producers, feeders, packers and retailers, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA) is now looking for answers from the Canadian federal government as to why and what can be done about it. Although the price gap concerns have been looming for quite awhile, it has widened since the… Read More
After a dreary few weeks, we’re starting this episode of the Beef Market Update on a positive note. Anne Wasko, of the Gateway Livestock Exchange, says on her ranch in southwest Saskatchewan, they got some rain, and hey, the markets are on the way up. The markets started out this week slow, but quickly picked… Read More
Discussions are underway on whether or not a new beef packing facility would be viable in Saskatchewan. The industry has sustained healthy margins over the past two-and-a-half years and with Saskatchewan being the literal breeding ground for upwards of one million cows, it’s no wonder the province is up for consideration. Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association… Read More
From drought conditions, poor market prices, high input costs, and on-going costs for health maintenance, many western Canadian cattle producers are starting to question how much longer they can stay afloat. Some producers who are in drought-ridden areas are looking at selling off a portion of their herd out of necessity as their pastureland can no… Read More
Drought conditions are adding insult to injury for some cattle producers who considering tough decisions if pasture conditions don’t improve soon. Producers Jocelyn and Travis Wasko, who own XTC Ranches and Bar 4 Bar Ranches near Eastend Sask., are going into their third year of drought conditions and say they continue to employ a “take… Read More