Record-breaking cattle prices a lifeline for farmers facing inflation, trade tensions

Chelsea Kemp · CBC News

· Posted: May 12, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Cattle prices person soared to what producers are calling record highs successful 2025, offering long-awaited fiscal alleviation to Manitoba ranchers aft years of stagnant returns and rising operational costs.

Barry Lowes, a shaper from McAuley successful southwestern Manitoba, watched the Livestock Markets Association of Canada auction in Virden Friday, marking down prices successful amazement arsenic bids soared to unprecedented levels.

"They're each amazed astatine the prices," Lowes said. "It's conscionable rather a spectacle."

He already had a record-breaking bull merchantability that saw animals merchantability for conscionable nether $11,000 in February. That's up astir $2,600 compared to past year.

Since then, prices person continued to climb. His 393 achromatic steers astatine the Virden auction besides went for the highest prices he's ever seen.

It's a alleviation aft years of turbulence successful the industry, helium says.

For producers similar Lowes, the terms swell, driven by choky cattle supplies and beardown user demand, is easing the fiscal unit ranchers person endured for years.

Canada has astir 10.9 cardinal caput of cattle, a fig that's dropped nearly 5 per cent successful conscionable 3 years, according to Statistics Canada.

Cattle auctioneer Rob Bergevin says successful the 25 years he's been successful the business, prices person ne'er been truthful bully for producers. One bull astatine Friday's auction sold for $3.18 a pound, 1 of the highest values he's ever seen connected the auction floor.

"It is simply a ton of amusive selling these cattle, I person to archer you. There's truthful overmuch interest," Bergevin said.

Live income are up astatine slightest $1,000 per carnal compared to past year, says Rick Wright, CEO of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada.

Statistics Canada says cattle for slaughter were selling for arsenic overmuch arsenic astir $263 per hundredweight (meaning per 100 pounds of unrecorded weight) arsenic of March 2025 — the highest terms recorded successful the StatsCan data, which goes backmost to 1985.

The cattle marketplace typically moves successful 10-year cycles, Wright said.

The 2015 marketplace saw prices arsenic precocious arsenic $193 per hundredweight, but they dropped sharply successful 2016, falling to arsenic debased arsenic $91 by the extremity of that year.

The existent marketplace surge is offering impermanent alleviation from precocious provender and substance costs, and planetary commercialized uncertainty, Wright says.

But portion immoderate spot opportunity, others are cashing out, raising questions astir the semipermanent aboriginal of Canada's industry.

Cash retired oregon enactment in

Pipestone country husbandman Trevor Atchison hopes the existent prices volition promote younger radical to enactment successful the manufacture and assistance physique up North American cattle herds. His household has been successful the concern for astir 100 years and has a herd of astir 600 parent and calf pairs.

But the soaring prices tin beryllium a double-edged sword, helium says, making it hard for caller producers to articulation successful portion the marketplace is hot.

"It conscionable takes truthful galore much dollars to buy," helium said.

Wright expects to spot a further marketplace contraction due to the fact that the manufacture is progressively costly to get into.  

At the aforesaid time, longtime ranchers are opting to currency retired portion the wealth is good.

"There are a batch of guys that are my property that are looking astatine cashing in," said Wright. "The past bully clip was successful '15, and they missed it."

That means it volition beryllium hard to turn herd numbers, helium says, to conscionable demands for Canadian beef.

That generational displacement is already showing up successful nationalist data. The fig of cattle successful Canada has dwindled to the lowest levels since 1989, according to a 2024 study from Statistics Canada.

Dallas Johnston, who farms adjacent Brookdale, northeast of Brandon, Man., has been raising cattle since the 1980s. Right now, helium has about 30 cattle in his herd, aft downsizing from 70 implicit the past mates years.

Johnston, who is successful his 60s and nearing retirement, knows this whitethorn beryllium the champion instrumentality connected cattle he'll ever see. The prices are giving his household clip to fig retired their adjacent steps.

"It's beauteous bully erstwhile you spot guys locomotion retired of the Auction Mart … holding their cheque successful their hands and conscionable a large grin connected their faces," Johnston said.

Supply and market store demand

Meanwhile, immoderate clip helium visits the market store, Johnston makes a constituent of checking retired the nutrient aisle, and finds the existent prices mind-boggling.

He thinks it shows that the manufacture is entering uncharted pricing territory, from the workplace to the market aisles, and he's not definite it's sustainable.

Current prices are making beef a luxury food, similar lobster, for peculiar occasions, based connected what consumers tin afford, Wright says.

When helium couples that with the existent planetary economical uncertainty, it's hard to gauge however agelong the precocious prices volition last.

Pipestone husbandman Atchison says for now, he's counting connected user request for Canadian beef to support the manufacture strong.

"It's proviso and demand, and there's tons of demand," Atchison said. "The proviso is tight. It conscionable keeps those prices either increasing, oregon astatine slightest holding, for the foreseeable future."