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Good prices may face market headwinds


Livestock markets have continued to chop higher and have held an upward trend


Markets by AARON CANART


since the beginning of the new year. Much of the upward trend is based on the current supply of fed cattle in Canada and aggressive packer demand. BC may not have many market- ready fat cattle, but this positive news has filtered to all weights and classes and therefore explains the price appreciation we have seen in the province. Cattle have also been supported by cheaper feed on the Prairies and a relatively depreciated


CIDC Check-off


currency. These have all been supportive factors in 2017. As spring arrives, there are two factors to be aware of that will be positive and negative for markets in the province. The first is that demand will gain traction as the time


CALF PRICES IN BC, 2017 WEIGHT


500-600 $196.23 600-700 $176.00 700-800 $164.50


STEER AVG HEIFER AVG $166.00 $157.00 $148.06


approaches to turn out cattle on pasture. The lower cost of gain will support prices on lighter


cattle that have been kept on the ranch


versus what was experienced in the fall. The cost of production to put pounds on these cattle is much lower than in the feedyard and the projected sale price for these cattle in the fall of 2017 will be higher than what it was for calves purchased last fall and sold this spring. However, do not use the price for a light


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Producer Check-Off Supports Beef Industry Projects. www.cattlefund.net | 1-877-688-2333


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Beef at


Work


BCID Fund


We gotcha! This turned out to be a (healthy) red calf after a bath and blow-dry. NAOMI MCGEACHY PHOTO


animal sold over the next three months as indicative of what they will be worth in the fall. They are very different animals in very different production systems. The second is a much larger supply of live cattle coming to market in the US in the second half of 2017. This is already being priced into future markets, suggesting the


price for market-ready cattle in the second half of the year could be as much as $400 a head lower than what it is today. There are many market participants in the industry that believe that the price could actually drop more than $400, so take heed – the future is uncertain. It’s highly worthwhile to continue to evaluate options


for marketing calves and risk management over the spring and summer. We have more supply of beef, pork, and chicken coming and if the futures market is correct, they are pricing in the low to be between August and October. There are many options to evaluate, from forward contracting to using Western Livestock Price Insurance.


Respectable start to bull sales


KAMLOOPS – BC bull sales have got off to a heady start. After Pine Butte Hereford’s February sale was


re-scheduled, the Prime Time/Cutting Edge sale on March 4 in Williams Lake was first to test the appetite of BC ranchers looking for bull power. Their high seller was a two-year-old coming out of Prime Time’s Black Angus herd. Lot 7 sold for $5,900.00 to Muir Stock Farms of Vanderhoof. Lot 2 sold for $5,750 to Cliff and Jo Hinsche from 141 Mile Ranch. Cutting Edge’s high seller, another two-year-old, went to the Carpenter Mountain Ranch for $4,800.00. RRTS Charolais held their sale in conjuction with the regular Tuesday sale in Kamloops, March 7. Their high seller, a December 2015 model, went to Squaw Valley Ranch in Lumby for $5,500.00. A tribute to Ray Van Steinburg, 94, who died


March 4, and the lasting impact he made on the ranching industry in BC, took place at Pine Butte’s rescheduled sale on March 10 in Kamloops. Prices reflected Pine Butte’s reputation for good breeding bulls with the top seller, Lot 21, going to Springfield Ranch in Williams Lake for $9,000.00. Buyers paid $7,000 each for Lots 11, 5 and 25. “Electric” is how BC Livestock described the


Harvest Angus/Heart of the Valley Farms Angus sale in Williams Lake, March 11. We can see why! Their top seller, a black yearling from Tom Dewaal’s program (lot 2), sold for $15,500.00 to Shadowbrook Angus of Black Creek. Brad Chappell’s lot 64, a Red Angus yearling, sold for $14,500.00 to Optimal Bovine Inc in Red Deer. Another lot is Saskatchewan-bound for $14,000.00. Sale average on 61 bulls, says Chappell, was $5174.00.


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2017


March 25, 2017—44th Annual


Dawson Creek All Breeds Bull Sale April 8, 2017 — 42nd Annual


Vanderhoof All Breeds Bull Sale


April 12 & 13, 2017 — 80th Annual Williams Lake Bull Show & Sale


Check out www .bchereford.ca for a Hereford breeder near you


BC SHORTHORN ASSOCIATION President: Gary Wood 604.536-2800 Cindy Merkley 604-607-7733


BC SHORTHORN MEMBERS HAVE BULLS AVAILABLE BY PRIVATE TREATY LET US PUT YOU IN TOUCH!


BCHA President John Lewis


250-218-2537


BCHA Secretary Janice Tapp 250-699-6466


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