Cattle costs have soared to what producers are calling document highs in 2025, providing long-awaited monetary aid to Manitoba ranchers after years of stagnant returns and rising operational prices.
Barry Lowes, a producer from McAuley in southwestern Manitoba, watched the Livestock Markets Affiliation of Canada public sale in Virden Friday, marking down costs in amazement as bids soared to unprecedented ranges.
“They’re all amazed on the costs,” Lowes mentioned. “It is simply fairly a spectacle.”
He already had a record-breaking bull sale that noticed animals promote for just below $11,000 in February. That is up round $2,600 in comparison with final yr.
Since then, costs have continued to climb. His 393 black steers on the Virden public sale additionally went for the very best costs he is ever seen.
It is a aid after years of turbulence within the business, he says.
For producers like Lowes, the value swell, pushed by tight cattle provides and powerful shopper demand, is easing the monetary stress ranchers have endured for years.
Canada has around 10.9 million head of cattle, a quantity that is dropped practically 5 per cent in simply three years, in line with Statistics Canada.
Cattle auctioneer Rob Bergevin says within the 25 years he is been within the enterprise, costs have by no means been so good for producers. One bull at Friday’s public sale offered for $3.18 a pound, certainly one of the very best values he is ever seen on the public sale flooring.
“It’s a ton of enjoyable promoting these cattle, I’ve to inform you. There’s a lot curiosity,” Bergevin mentioned.
Dwell gross sales are up not less than $1,000 per animal in comparison with final yr, says Rick Wright, CEO of the Livestock Markets Affiliation of Canada.
Statistics Canada says cattle for slaughter have been promoting for as much as nearly $263 per hundredweight (that means per 100 kilos of stay weight) as of March 2025 — the very best worth recorded within the StatsCan information, which fits again to 1985.
The cattle market usually strikes in 10-year cycles, Wright mentioned.
The 2015 market noticed costs as excessive as $193 per hundredweight, however they dropped sharply in 2016, falling to as little as $91 by the tip of that yr.
The present market surge is providing short-term aid from excessive feed and gas prices, and world commerce uncertainty, Wright says.
However whereas some see alternative, others are cashing out, elevating questions concerning the long-term way forward for Canada’s business.
Money out or keep in
Pipestone space farmer Trevor Atchison hopes the present costs will encourage youthful folks to remain within the business and assist construct up North American cattle herds. His household has been within the enterprise for round 100 years and has a herd of about 600 mom and calf pairs.
However the hovering costs is usually a double-edged sword, he says, making it tough for brand spanking new producers to affix in whereas the market is scorching.
“It simply takes so many extra {dollars} to purchase,” he mentioned.
Wright expects to see an additional market contraction as a result of the business is more and more costly to get into.
On the similar time, longtime ranchers are opting to money out whereas the cash is sweet.
“There are loads of guys which might be my age which might be cashing in,” mentioned Wright. “The final good time was in ’15, and so they missed it.”
Which means will probably be arduous to develop herd numbers, he says, to fulfill calls for for Canadian beef.
That generational shift is already exhibiting up in nationwide information. The number of cattle in Canada has dwindled to the bottom ranges since 1989, in line with a 2024 report from Statistics Canada.
Dallas Johnston, who farms close to Brookdale, northeast of Brandon, Man., has been elevating cattle because the Nineteen Eighties. Proper now, he has about 30 cattle in his herd, after downsizing from 70 over the past couple years.
Johnston, who’s in his 60s and nearing retirement, is aware of this can be the most effective return on cattle he’ll ever see. The costs are giving his household time to determine their subsequent steps.
“It is fairly good once you see guys stroll out of the Public sale Mart … holding their cheque of their fingers and only a massive smile on their faces,” Johnston mentioned.
Provide and grocery retailer demand
In the meantime, any time he visits the grocery retailer, Johnston makes a degree of testing the meat aisle, and finds the present costs mind-boggling.
He thinks it reveals that the business is getting into uncharted pricing territory, from the farm to the grocery aisles, and he is unsure it is sustainable.
Present costs are making beef a luxurious meals, like lobster, for particular events, primarily based on what shoppers can afford, Wright says.
When he {couples} that with the present world financial uncertainty, it is arduous to gauge how lengthy the excessive costs will final.
Pipestone farmer Atchison says for now, he is relying on shopper demand for Canadian beef to maintain the business robust.
“It is provide and demand, and there is a number of demand,” Atchison mentioned. “The provision is tight. It simply retains these costs both growing, or not less than holding, for the foreseeable future.”
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