Manitoba beef producers see record-high cattle prices

Record high beef prices are leading to huge profits for Manitoba cattle farmers. Joseph Bernacki looks at how much higher it could climb.

Hundreds of cattle pass through the auction ring each week at Winnipeg Livestock Sales — and lately they’re fetching prices producers say they’ve never seen before.

Scott Anderson manages the sale floor, guiding animals through the gates and into the market. He said current auction prices are breaking records.

“The market right now currently is, it’s the highest of all time,” said Scott Anderson, manager at Winnipeg Livestock Sales.

One recent sale stood out. Argyle-area farmer Ian Smith brought in a 2,900-pound, eight-year-old bull that sold for a record price at the end of February.

“I got a good price of $7,628 for him,” said Smith, who owns Armac Shorthorns.

“I was thinking maybe around that $2.55 a pound I’d get for him, but I got $2.59.”

“As far as a culled bull, you know that’s an amazing kind of thing,” Anderson said.

Smith estimates the same bull might have sold for about $1,000 less last year. While the prices are encouraging, he said the tricky part is managing and maintaining enough stock.

“I think the prices will stay up because here in North America we’re in a 75 year low in inventory,” Smith said.

He’s already reinvested in the herd, purchasing two new bulls for about $7,000 each.

Anderson said cattle prices have been steadily increasing for the past three years.

“Calves are bringing you know, $4,000,” Anderson said.

“It’s been good for the cow calf producers. It’s been good for the backgrounders that buy a little calves, you know put a couple hundred pounds on them and then resell them. It’s also been very good for the feedlot guys that have been finishing cattle as well.”

He said strong consumer demand for beef, rising input costs and fewer cattle farmers in Manitoba are all helping drive prices higher.

“It wasn’t long ago that producers could hardly pay their bills which is why a lot of people left the industry,” Anderson said.

Cattle farmer Barry Proctor has watched prices skyrocket over the past decade. He bought his first cows at 13.

“I was born into it,” Proctor said as he laughed.

“I’m 86 now, so I’m in my 73rd year of doing it.”

Proctor still manages a herd of about 80 Black Angus cattle near Woodlands, Man. Over the past four months, he said the jump in prices has been staggering

“I sold 10 in December, and they averaged me $4,700,” he said.

“First week in February, the lowest one was $5,400 and the highest one was $5,900.”

He remembers a decade ago when he started to slow down the business during calving season and downsized from 140 cows during a bred cow sale. Proctor said prices for individual cows have tripled in 10 years.

“They were a good herd of all blacks, and they sold real good, I’m saying that ‘real good’ was $1,700 to $2,000 a cow brought,” Proctor said.

“Kill cows going to scrap are bringing in more than that, bred cows (now), they’ll bring $6,000 for bred cows.”

Proctor regularly attends the Friday auctions at Winnipeg Livestock Sales and said prices have continued climbing week after week this year.

But he cautions that the market can change quickly, especially with uncertainty in global markets.

“It’s pretty darn hard for young guys if they want to go into the cattle business right now,” Proctor said.

“There’s no guarantee on it. The bottom of it can fall out over this squabble that’s going on right now. They call it the stock market.”