It looks like the cattle sector is in good shape as 2013 comes to an end.

"We're in a position with feed costs that are more affordable, you know some cattle are around that are going to be able to make use of that feed. While cattle numbers are down, our feeder numbers seem to be down a bit again or there's some difficulty sourcing enough feeder cattle. I think the position of the cattle industry overall right today would be very good," said Martin Unrau, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.

He notes it was also a better year for cow/calf producers, but country of origin labelling continues to be an obstacle.

"I think we've had a better year for cow/calf producers, the prices are strong. Although with mandatory country of origin we've seen some holes in that market and when I talk about holes, I talk about some of the heifer markets have been down and some of those second cut calf of course are off quite a bit, overall we're in a position where theres a bit of profitability in our industry," said Unrau.