The vice president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association is worried about the sell-off of cattle this spring due to drought.
Bob Lowe says the cattle market has taken a significant price drop in the past month because of rising feed costs due to drought.
He says cattle prices have dropped 20 dollars per hundredweight and is hoping prices have bottomed out.
He is concerned about a sell-off of cows and calves due to extremely dry weather.
Lowe says the livestock feed supply is also volatile because of late corn seeding in the U.S.
Lowe also says foreign beef trade is doing very well, with China becoming one of Canada’s largest foreign markets for beef.
He hopes the beef industry can avoid the restrictions imposed by China on imports of canola.
Lowe adds he is concerned about new hours of operation for truckers hauling cattle to Eastern Canada.
He says it will be impossible to ship calves to Ontario from Alberta and Saskatchewan because of the higher cost.
He worries about the future of the Ontario cattle feeding industry and lower prices in Western Canada.
He spoke at the Saskatchewan Stock Growers convention in Moose Jaw Monday.
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