Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange hit fresh contract highs once again on Tuesday, with expectations for declining U.S. inventories behind some of the buying interest.
Beef Cattle
U.S. livestock: Cattle rally continues
Klassen: Western Canadian feeder market holds value on Ontario demand
For the week ending January 25, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $$3-$6/cwt on either side of unchanged compared to seven days earlier. Higher quality genetics and lower flesh replacements were slightly firmer; however, feedlot operators incorporated the appropriate discounts on fleshier types and lower efficiency, smaller frame animals.
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures mixed Monday
Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange hit fresh contract highs on Monday, while feeder cattle ran into resistance and backed away from their own highs to settle with small losses.
Early-spring-seeded winter cereals can bring more, better forage
The practice does have some risks — but maybe not the ones you think
Glacier FarmMedia — Seeding winter cereals “ultra-early” in the spring can hedge against drought by offering an alternative feed source, according to Alberta research results. The project’s origins can be traced to the extremely dry year of 2021, which left many producers in the province’s eastern Lakeland region in need of feed and water resources. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall with grains
Live and feeder cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were weaker on Thursday, as losses in the grains and oilseeds spilled into the livestock markets.
Lots of unknowns keep cattle market interesting
The Markets: Several trends have a floor under the cattle feeder complex, for now
During the last week of November, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis at $243-$244 per hundredweight, f.o.b. feedlot in southern Alberta. The fed market has been relatively flat over the past month. The Canadian slaughter has been running below year-ago levels but the year-over-year increase in fed cattle exports has kept […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures boosted by strong beef prices
Live and feeder cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were stronger Wednesday, as rising beef prices underpinned the markets.
Increasing AI use has many advantages
Animal Health: There are improved technologies for breeding and synchronization, for which AI makes more sense
Over the last decade or so, artificial insemination (AI), not to be confused with the other AI (artificial intelligence), has seen an upsurge in the commercial cattle population. This has been happening for a lot longer in the purebred cattle industry and a lot of the reasons are the same. If one is considering AI […] Read more
Klassen: Stronger fed market to pull up feeder complex
The Alberta fed cattle market was quoted on a live basis in the range of range of $262-$265/cwt fob feedlot last week. Fed cattle forward contracts for March and April delivery (Alberta) were quoted from $270 to $272/cwt. Compared to last week of November 2024, fed prices are up $20/cwt on average.
Klassen: Feeder market has many factors to digest in 2025
For the week ending December 28, there were no feeder cattle sales in Western Canada; however, that didn’t stop cattle producers from emailing or calling me over the holidays inquiring about market direction. I thought it would be an opportune time to discuss a couple factors that will influence the market direction over the next couple of months.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
