Canfax Analyst Says Feeder Market Remains Strong

The beef industry is continuing its recovery from the COVID-19 shutdown.

 

Brian Perillat is a senior analyst with Canfax.

 

"I think plants are doing really well. They continue to be processing cattle near or at capacity, the pre-COVID capacity. Throwing in some Saturday shifts as well. We've been actually processing more fed cattle the last few weeks than a year ago. That's been really positive news for the industry. We still continue to have a bit of backlog but for the most part, I'd say feedlots are in pretty good shape."

 

He says the feeder market remains fairly strong.

 

"Fed cattle market continues to be under pressure with the cattle around well below a year ago...On the other hand, the feeder market continues to be quite resilient, I guess you could say. Some of the yearlings are a little bit below a year ago."

 

Perrilat notes the Canadian dollar has been creeping up near 75 cents U.S.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.