Saskatchewan's Weekly Cattle Market Update

Mar 23, 2022

Highlights for the week include:

Feeder steer prices were mixed across the reported weight categories for the week compared to the week ending March 11th. Prices ranged from $243.63 per cwt for the 300-400lb weight category to $180.18 per cwt for the 900+lb weight category. The largest price increase was seen in the 500-600lb weight category with an increase of $6.12 per cwt to average $239.00 per cwt for the week. The largest price decrease was seen in the 300-400lb weight category with a price decrease of $9.87 per cwt to average the week at $243.63.
The average weekly prices for Saskatchewan’s feeder heifer prices saw a similar mix across all the reported weight categories compared to March 11th. Prices ranged from $201.35 per cwt for the 400-500lb weight category to $168.10 per cwt for the 800+lb weight category. The largest price increase reported was seen in the 800+lb weight category with an increase of $4.93 per cwt to average $168.10 per cwt for the week. The largest price decrease over the week was seen in the 500-600lb weight category with a price decrease of $2.40 per cwt to finish the week averaging $194.00 per cwt. The price for the 300-400lb weight category was not available for this week.
Nearby live cattle future contract prices also saw an increase throughout the week. The April live cattle futures contract increased US$3.200 per cwt relative to the week of March 11th to settle Friday at US$140.500 per cwt. The June contract had a price increase of US$4.125 per cwt compared to March 11th, to settle Friday at US$137.075 per cwt.
Choice beef cutout prices (600-900 lb.) for the week averaged US$257.34 per cwt, a price decline of US$3.64 per cwt or 1.43 per cent from US$253.70 per cwt the week of March 11th.
In addition - Lethbridge barley came in at $447 50 cents per tonne Canadian dollars. Our Iowa State corn we saw it come in at $6.93 per bushel US dollars which ended up being $344.21 per tonne Canadian dollars. And our Omaha corn came in at $7.17 per US dollar per bushel, which ended up coming out to $356.13 per tonne in Canadian dollars.
Canfax reported a total of 12,347 head of cattle were sold in Saskatchewan this week, up from 11,187 head during the week ending March 11th, but lower than the 15,684 head marketed during the same week in 2021

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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