The AgriPost
Cattle Prices Strengthen After Multiple Years of Loss
Cattle rancher, Tom Teichroeb of Langruth, MB is positive about this year’s market prices. Although cattle numbers continue their decline, Teichroeb said that while it was a long time coming, the business is good with the current commodity prices. File photo by Tom Teichroeb
By Harry Siemens Although cattle numbers continue their decline, cattle producer Tom Teichroeb of Langruth, MB said while a long time coming the business is good with the current commodity prices. “We’re finally where we must be to make money from this gig,” said Teichroeb. Even though inflationary pressure has increased input costs the current market is more favourable for the cattle sector. “The commodity prices before 2023 just did not cut the mustard. The industry needed to be more sustainable,” he said. “Even where we are now with the current fuel and fertilizer, and equipment prices, we need to stay there or be better for people to want to be a part of this industry. It’s just that simple.” A cattle producer recently
shared with Teichroeb how they dispersed their 400 cows because they could not make a living in the cattle business. They wanted to sell their herd before they lost all their equity position. That is a very common theme, he said. He thinks with the higher commodity prices for cattle it will still take time to correct meaning cattle producers entering the twilight of their careers will take advantage of these prices and liquidate when they can make some money. “It’s twofold, Harry. First, the guys in it like myself, with a slightly better equity position and some younger producers who need a few years for us to break the trend,” said Teichroeb. “In Manitoba consistently, our herd numbers have gone down since BSE 2003. That has not changed.”
That indicates how the industry is doing in general he said. However, producers must see multiple years of current conditions for that trend to stop. Teichroeb and two other producers recently sold their calf crop a little earlier because of the timing of another producer who came in with the sale and didn’t quite have the silage pile that he was hoping to, due to last year’s wet and hail conditions. The sale did well but needed more weight because of the calf crop. With a very difficult spring and calving conditions in 2022, those calves had a different start than in other years. “Then going into the fall, we decided not to buy corn or some of the grain commodities because at the time, when we were looking at the calf prices in mid-December, the
corn was up near 30 cents a pound,” said Teichroeb. The calf prices were nowhere near where they are now, so he decided to go with a cheaper ration producing lesser gains. “We did profit more this year with lighter calves than last year with heavier ones,” he said. Teichroeb sold in the 280, 285 mark, with a combined total from three producers just shy of one thousand head in that video sale. About 15 years ago he started calving season by April 15 and because of the storms in March, he backed it off even farther. “So our date will be right into the end of April,” he said. “With some luck, we’ll have a slightly gentler spring than last year in the calving season, and we can experience a more normal year.”
March 31, 2023
Major Risk of Spring Flooding on Red River Projected By Elmer Heinrichs Manitobans are being warned there’s now a major risk of flooding on the Red River this spring after a series of big snowstorms south of the border in the United States. Those storms have left an above-normal snow pack in much of the US portion of the Red River basin, the province’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre reported recently. The flood risk largely depends on weather conditions from now until the spring melt. Favourable conditions would create a moderate risk of flooding similar to what was seen in fall 2019, the forecast says. However, community dikes and other flood protection works are higher than even the predicted peak levels in the worst scenario. The forecast is a significant change from the earlier flood outlook that came out at the end of February, predicting moderate flows along the Red and Assiniboine rivers, and in the Interlake region along the Fisher and Icelandic rivers. In the latest outlook the flood risk remains low to moderate along those other waterways, including the Assiniboine, Souris, Roseau, Rat and Pembina rivers. Water levels are expected to remain below flood protection levels in communities along those rivers. The Red River Floodway is expected to be put into operation this spring to reduce water levels in Winnipeg. Ice-cutting work along the Red and Icelandic rivers to reduce ice jam-related flooding began in mid-February and has been completed.