The latest Cattle Market Update from Canfax, for the week ending December 8, shows the majority of feeder steer and heifer prices were down last week.

All the steer weight categories were down and most of the heifer weight categories also had a week-over-week decrease, except for the 400-500lb feeder heifer weight category, which remained unchanged, and the 500-600lb category which increased by 23 cents.

Provincial Cattle Specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Fonda Froats says the continued pull back of live cattle futures is driving the prices down, though she doesn’t think the prices fell as much as expected. She also noted a seasonal decline of feeder cattle supply.

The number of cattle being sold at auction declined slightly in the province to 16,660 head from 17,316 head sold the previous week, and is lower than the 18,567 head marketed at the same time last year. Year-to-date, Saskatchewan’s cattle marketing’s are 3 percent higher than 2022, at 632,426.

Canfax also reported prices for Alberta cows last week were improved compared to the previous week. D2 cows improved $6.84 per hundred weight (cwt) over the previous week to average $129.13 per cwt. D3 cows increased $5.21 per cwt from the prior week, ending the week at an average price of $112.00 per cwt. The price for Alberta fed steers averaged $224.96 per cwt.