Manitoba cattle marketings trail the year-earlier pace by 3.7%
The province’s October 23 weekly report records 14,453 cattle sold during the week and a year-to-date market total below the comparable 2025 figure.
Event / data period: 2026-10-23
Published: · Updated:
Manitoba’s October 23 Cattle, Sheep and Goat Prices report says 14,453 cattle were marketed at provincial auction markets during the Friday-to-Thursday reporting week. The report gives a 2026 year-to-date total of 208,602 head, compared with 216,722 over the corresponding period in 2025. It calculates the difference as a 3.7 per cent decline. This measure counts marketings; by itself it does not show the size of the provincial herd, the number of animals slaughtered or farm income. The report also provides market summaries and category-level prices for auction locations including Virden, Ste Rose, Gladstone, Ashern, Grunthal, Killarney and Winnipeg.
The bulletin’s central news is not a single price increase or decrease, but the publication of separate prices by animal class and market location alongside a weekly marketing volume. Prices in the October 23 report are expressed in Canadian dollars per cwt, or per hundredweight of 100 pounds; local tables show sale dates and comparisons with previous sales. That distinction matters: a price per animal is not the same as a price per unit of weight, and one class cannot be substituted for another. The 3.7 per cent year-to-date difference compares only the two marketing totals given in the report. The source does not explain the change; additional evidence would be needed before attributing it to drought, herd size, prices or demand.
The reporting window defines the year-to-date comparison
The weekly total in Manitoba’s report covers a Friday-to-Thursday marketing period, while October 23 is the report date. The year-to-date totals are cumulative values through the date represented by the weekly series. The report does not break out the 14,453-head provincial weekly total by animal type in its summary row. The difference between the two annual totals is 8,120 head, the arithmetic gap between 216,722 and 208,602. The 3.7 per cent figure is the rate stated by the source. These figures count head, not prices; they cannot be converted into tonnes, liveweight or carcass weight from the summary alone.
Marketing counts reflect activity reported at auction markets. The bulletin does not provide a methodology note specifying whether every private sale or direct farm purchase in the province is included in this total. A head count is also not the total number of animals in the herd; it measures animals moving through the reported market during a period. Preserving these limits helps prevent a market indicator from being presented as an inventory or production forecast. The comparison with 2025 is also a comparison of cumulative marketings over the corresponding year-to-date period, not a completed annual result. The 2026 figure can change as later weekly reports add sales.
Auction prices vary by class, weight and sale location
The report’s price tables separate cattle into commercial classes: D1–2 and D3 cows, bulls, slaughter cattle and feeder cattle. Feeder animals are also divided into heifers and steers by liveweight ranges in pounds. In the report summary, the provincial auction-market average for feeder steers weighing 401–500 pounds was C$740.29/cwt, while the average for steers weighing 901 pounds or more was C$432.31/cwt. The D1–2 cow average was C$208.25/cwt and the D3 cow average C$196.25/cwt. These are not sale prices for one animal: a cwt is 100 pounds, and the quoted price is per unit of that weight.
The market tables below the summary give low, high and average prices by location, as well as the previous sale average and the change. Differences among these categories show why a single price cannot describe the entire cattle market. A weekly average for one class or market is not a quote for an animal in another weight category. The source says the summary prices are averaged through auction markets and records sale dates for individual locations. Cells without a reported observation remain marked “NA.” Those missing observations should not be treated as zero prices or proof that no cattle were sold; the table simply does not report a value for that class.
Marketing volume and price movements answer different questions
The weekly total of 14,453 head and a category price in Canadian dollars per cwt are different measures. The first counts animals marketed; the second records price per unit of weight. Neither can be used alone to calculate farm income because the report summary does not provide actual animal weights, class composition, farm expenses, transport costs or slaughter terms. A weekly increase or decrease in one price category also does not mean the province-wide number of cattle marketed moved in the same direction. The report publishes both data types so users can follow market activity and price conditions in selected classes, but it does not establish an automatic causal relationship between them.
Understanding the 3.7 per cent year-to-date marketing decline would require a longer series and additional context. Cattle marketings may vary with seasonality, producers’ sale timing, animal weights and changes in the mix of categories. The report does not say that any one of these factors explains the difference between 2026 and 2025. The 2026 total is also incomplete: the report date is in late October and does not include sales for the rest of the year. The comparison should therefore be described explicitly as year-to-date through the report date. Two cumulative head counts alone cannot support a conclusion about cattle supply or retail beef prices.
Regional tables require attention to scope and timing
The tables for Ashern, Gladstone, Grunthal, Killarney, Ste Rose, Virden and Winnipeg do not all use the same auction date. The October 23 report makes clear that the report date and the sale date used in a table are separate. Prices at an auction are compared with the previous sale for that market. For example, the current Ste Rose sale was dated October 22 and the comparison sale October 15; Virden’s dates were October 21 and October 14. Because market calendars differ, the change in every local row should not be described as a province-wide price movement occurring on the same day.
The low-high ranges, average and weekly change should be read together. An average can rise in one class and fall in another, reflecting different market values by weight category. The market report helps producers and buyers monitor transaction conditions, but it does not state the sample size for each class in every row, so the statistical uncertainty around each average cannot be calculated from the report. Price changes at a few markets should not be generalized as farmgate prices across all Manitoba operations. The geographic coverage supported by this source is limited to the named auction locations and reported transactions.
How to use the report and what it cannot establish
Manitoba Agriculture’s weekly reporting series publishes cattle, sheep and goat prices, with a separate weekly hog report; the department’s landing page says the cattle, sheep and goat report is released weekly. The October 23 PDF combines cattle prices and marketing volume with tables for sheep and goats. It also explains that goat auction prices, originally reported per head, are converted to C$/cwt using estimated average weights so that they can be compared consistently. That note describes the publisher’s conversion method; it is not the same as the cash amount paid for each animal. Sheep and goat figures should not be combined with cattle rows as though they were one series.
The week’s principal economic signal is that reported marketings were below the matching year-to-date period in 2025. The number describes head moving through the covered auction markets; it does not measure total farm sales revenue, the provincial herd or the national cattle market. By separating prices by animal class, weight and market location, the report also makes clear how raw comparisons can mislead. It does not explain the reason for the change or forecast its direction. Later weekly reports can be followed using the same definitions; a fuller economic assessment would need a completed period, information about transactions outside these auctions and farm-cost data. This account stays within the observations published in the report.
Data
Cattle marketings at Manitoba auction markets
Weekly head counts and year-to-date comparison in the October 23, 2026 report.
| Weekly sales | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-22 | 14453 |
| 2026 year-to-date through reported week | 2026-01-01 | 2026-10-22 | 208602 |
| 2025 comparable year-to-date through corresponding week | 2025-01-01 | — | 216722 |
Methodology
Head counts are transcribed from the source; its weekly sales period runs Friday through Thursday. Year-to-date figures retain the report’s comparative-period labels. Prices are not summarized here; the source quotes C$/cwt (Canadian dollars per 100 pounds) by class and weight range.
Updated:
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