Record Highs and Real Risk: What’s Driving Feeder Cattle Prices Canada-Wide in 2025-26

Steer calves in the 500–525 lb. range were trading around $500 per hundredweight (cwt) in central Alberta at the start of 2025. By April of that year, 300–400 lb. steer calves in Saskatchewan had cleared the $600/cwt mark for the first time on record. Those are not misprint numbers—they reflect a structural shift in feeder cattle prices Canada has been building toward for several years, and the drivers behind them are not going away anytime soon.