By Lisa Parent

Calf prices increase significantly from last year

Oct 25, 2023 | 4:48 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Medicine Hat Feeding Company was started in 1952 and has focused on serving Southeast Alberta and Southwest Saskatchewan since that time. Today, they hosted a calf auction where calves were selling at about a 35% increase compared to last year.

Lyle Taylor, assistant manager of the Medicine Hat Feeding Company says these prices have been years in the making. This can be attributed to a decline in the cattle population on ranches, driven by the high cost of feed and prolonged drought conditions. Taylor says the herds of many ranchers have decreased by over 50% in the past six years.

“When you look at all his other input costs, like hay, (it’s) now 3 to 350 a ton. So that helps offset some of their ongoing costs. If they didn’t get these kind of prices this year, there would have been a lot of trouble in the cattle industry,” says Taylor.

He adds, “it’ll put the price of beef up in the supermarket, so there’s probably going to be some consumer resistance to that. And so you’ve got a back play of if Mrs. Mum can afford to buy beef, or she’ll go to pork or chicken.”

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Taylor says cattle prices will likely remain high, until the drought ends.