Beef Market Update: Strong supply, a pull-back in cull prices, and a strong feeder market

(Kara Oosterhuis/RealAgriculture)

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 approximately one per cent larger than last year, which keep in mind, was a record year itself. However, she says she doesn’t expect that it’ll end up a full per cent higher, but 2022 is still shaping up to post record numbers.

Brining our focus to the current markets, there is still some variability between the north and south within the U.S., with Kansas in the north at $143 to $144, whereas prices in Texas are sitting around $142, which is a lot closer than it has been and Wasko says the spread is indeed narrowing between the two regions.

North of the border in Canada, Wasko says the fed cattle market remained fairly steady. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, prices were coming in at $302 to $303 dressed, brining the average to $180. In the west, they’ve consistently been over $180 now for three weeks in a row, which are also the highest prices they’ve seen for fed cattle since 2015.

For the cow market, coming off of a very strong summer price wise, with prices upwards of $115 and $116 for D2 cows, those prices have taken a dip towards $106-$107, which Wasko says isn’t surprising.

“These are still great prices, but just kind of heads up that you know they’re still what 25 To 30 bucks 100 over last year, but they they’re coming off the highs that we play so that’s that’s not all that unexpected,” says Wasko.

In the full interview below with RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith, Wasko details how she expects prices to continue to trend upward whether it’s for calves, yearlings, cows, or fat cattle.

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