The number of feeder cattle sold through Saskatchewan Auction Marts last week was up with 14,068 head sold.

Meantime, Canfax reports show year-to-date feeder cattle marketings are 11 per cent off 2022 levels.

The Province's livestock development intern Jayce Fossen says the cattle herd has been in decline since about 2006.

"Drought and inflation in the past few years has also caused further decline in herd numbers. So that may be a contributing factor to why we're seeing fewer marketings of feeder cattle. Then there's also lower demand for Canadian feeder cattle in the U.S. right now, so some producers may be holding out on selling their calves with hopes of higher return, if that demand comes back up."

Fossen notes lower feed prices and higher contract values for the future contracts in the second half of 2023 seem to be supporting feeder prices.

This week's cattle marketing report shows Saskatchewan feeder steer prices ranged from $332.33 per cwt for the 300-400 pound weight category, to $234.19 per cwt for the 900 plus pound category.
Feeder heifer prices ranged from $258.38 per cwt for the 300-400 pound weight category to $211.71 per cwt for the 800+ pound category.

Alberta D2 slaughter cows averaged $101.90 per cwt, while the price of D3 slaughter cows was up slightly to average $87.31 per cwt.