Cash trading in the South and Canada has been very quiet this week, with the start of June lagging behind the proper start of the new month.
Slaughter numbers in the U.S. were down again this week, with cutout prices rising slightly in the shortened week after Memorial Day, Ann Wasco of Gateway Livestock Exchange said in this week’s beef market update.
But the domestic market is a little more active and the numbers are looking good, driven by a number of factors including a weaker Canadian dollar and a stronger Alberta feedlot cattle base that performed well earlier this month.
In the latest Statistics Canada figures, which also include beef export volumes and retail protein prices, Wasko summed up some encouraging numbers on beef activity: Feedlot cattle are up 51 per cent this month and 30 per cent higher than last year’s figures so far this year.
Retail beef prices also rose 11% in April compared to a year earlier, while pork prices were little changed and chicken prices actually fell 4%.
Additionally, Wasco provides insight into the impact of union strikes. Cargill’s Ontario plant.
subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | | All Podcasts
