Record-breaking cattle prices a lifeline for farmers facing inflation, trade tensions
Cattle prices have soared to what producers are calling record highs in 2025, offering long-awaited financial relief to Manitoba ranchers after years of stagnant returns and rising operational costs.
Barry Lowes, a producer from McAuley in southwestern Manitoba, watched the Livestock Markets Association of Canada auction in Virden Friday, marking down prices in amazement as bids soared to unprecedented levels.
“They’re all amazed at the prices,” Lowes said. “It’s just quite a spectacle.”
He already had a record-breaking bull sale that saw animals sell for just under $11,000 in February. That’s up around $2,600 compared to last year.
Since then, prices have continued to climb. His 393 black steers at the Virden auction also went for the highest prices he’s ever seen.
It’s a relief after years of turbulence in the industry, he says.
For producers like Lowes, the price swell, driven by tight cattle supplies and strong consumer demand, is easing the financial pressure ranchers have endured for years.
Canada has around 10.9 million head of cattle, a number that’s dropped nearly five per cent in just three years, according to Statistics Canada.
Cattle auctioneer Rob Bergevin says in the 25 years he’s been in the business, prices have never been so good for producers. One bull at Friday’s auction sold for $3.18 a pound, one of the highest values he’s ever seen on the auction floor.
“It is a ton of fun selling these cattle, I have to tell you. There’s so much interest,” Bergevin said.
Live sales are up at least $1,000 per animal compared to last year, says Rick Wright, CEO of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada.
Statistics Canada says cattle for slaughter were selling for as much as nearly $263 per hundredweight (meaning per 100 pounds of live weight) as of March 2025 — the highest price recorded in the StatsCan data, which goes back to 1985.
The cattle market typically moves in 10-year cycles, Wright said.
The 2015 market saw prices as high as $193 per hundredweight, but they dropped sharply in 2016, falling to as low as $91 by the end of that year.
The current market surge is offering temporary relief from high feed and fuel costs, and global trade uncertainty, Wright says.
But while some see opportunity, others are cashing out, raising questions about the long-term future of Canada’s industry.
Cash out or stay in
Pipestone area farmer Trevor Atchison hopes the current prices will encourage younger people to stay in the industry and help build up North American cattle herds. His family has been in the business for around 100 years and has a herd of about 600 mother and calf pairs.
But the soaring prices can be a double-edged sword, he says, making it difficult for new producers to join in while the market is hot.
“It just takes so many more dollars to buy,” he said.
Wright expects to see a further market contraction because the industry is increasingly expensive to get into.
At the same time, longtime ranchers are opting to cash out while the money is good.
“There are a lot of guys that are my age that are looking at cashing in,” said Wright. “The last good time was in ’15, and they missed it.”
That means it will be hard to grow herd numbers, he says, to meet demands for Canadian beef.
That generational shift is already showing up in national data. The number of cattle in Canada has dwindled to the lowest levels since 1989, according to a 2024 report from Statistics Canada.
Dallas Johnston, who farms near Brookdale, northeast of Brandon, Man., has been raising cattle since the 1980s. Right now, he has about 30 cattle in his herd, after downsizing from 70 over the last couple years.
Johnston, who is in his 60s and nearing retirement, knows this may be the best return on cattle he’ll ever see. The prices are giving his family time to figure out their next steps.
“It’s pretty nice when you see guys walk out of the Auction Mart … holding their cheque in their hands and just a big smile on their faces,” Johnston said.
Supply and grocery store demand
Meanwhile, any time he visits the grocery store, Johnston makes a point of checking out the meat aisle, and finds the current prices mind-boggling.
He thinks it shows that the industry is entering uncharted pricing territory, from the farm to the grocery aisles, and he’s not sure it’s sustainable.
Current prices are making beef a luxury food, like lobster, for special occasions, based on what consumers can afford, Wright says.
When he couples that with the current global economic uncertainty, it’s hard to gauge how long the high prices will last.
Pipestone farmer Atchison says for now, he’s counting on consumer demand for Canadian beef to keep the industry strong.
“It’s supply and demand, and there’s lots of demand,” Atchison said. “The supply is tight. It just keeps those prices either increasing, or at least holding, for the foreseeable future.”