Cattle markets shift from bear to bull - ranchers set to benefit

What a difference a year makes.

A year ago, ranchers were being squeezed by tight margins and profits - if any - were slim at best.

This year market prices for calves have been rocketing upwards into the stratosphere and with any luck later this fall ranchers are set to cash in.

“There is a fair bit of optimism this year. The markets have improved. They are much stronger this year right across the board compared to a year ago,” Garner Deobald president of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association said.

The two day AGM was held Monday and Tuesday, June 5-6, at the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds.

Improved soil moisture conditions, as well as access to water, has most ranchers looking forward to what is shaping up to be a better year, he said.

The year 2015 was just before a national election – which have major influences on policy paths, administration goals, and how farmers feel about their future.