Fed Cattle Market Strong In Western Canada

Beef plants in Western Canada are back to pre-COVID levels.

 

Canfax Market Analyst Brian Perillat gave a cattle market update this week.

 

"We've got both the Canadian dollar and feed grains extremely high," he said. "Despite that feeder markets are holding in there. We're starting to see a little more volumes of backgrounded cattle come to market and somewhat surprising how well that market is holding together. Feedlots seeing red ink and have seen it for months. They continue to pay up for feeder cattle where prices there...are slightly above a year ago. Certainly some optimism priced into this market."

 

Perillat says Western Canada has the strongest fed cattle market in North American again which is not that seasonal, especially in February, to see $5-$7 dollars a hundredweight above the U.S. He notes the market has improved somewhat, where are prices are close to where they were a year ago.

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.