REGINA — Two Saskatchewan livestock auctions have closed this summer, and more could follow as a result of the declining cow herd.
The Livestock Marketers Association of Canada (LMAC) said the major decrease in cow numbers, exacerbated by drought, has changed market conditions considerably. Fewer cattle to sell at live auction plus a lack of skilled labour are forcing the businesses to adjust.
“Over time there’ll be some more auction marts closed across Canada, maybe not this year or next year, but it’s going to take a long time to rebuild and we may not get back to the numbers that we used to have,” said LMAC chief executive officer Rick Wright.
Kelvington Stockyards closed Aug. 1 and Assiniboia Livestock Auction closed later in the month.
It’s unknown whether either would re-open if cattle numbers rebounded.
Both businesses announced the closures on their websites.
Roy Rutledge, who at one time owned Assiniboia and was managing it for Nilsson Bros., posted on the website that the corporate office decided to close it.
He said he returned to the auction mart to try turning things around after years of poor performance.
“It was too little, too late. I was unable to bring back enough business to pay the bills.”
He thanked those who supported the auction mart, particularly in 2023 when he tried to revive it.
“But unfortunately, there wasn’t enough (business) to keep us viable,” he said.
Rutledge declined to comment further about the closure.
“We will try to accommodate everyone as much as possible at the Weyburn Livestock Exchange. However, we realize that many other places are geographically handier for many people,” his post concluded.
After Rutledge purchased the auction in the mid-1980s, he initiated presort sales, redesigned the facility to feed and water calves before the sale and focused on calf health to withstand shipping. These and other innovations set Assiniboia apart and it became one of the largest auctions in southern Saskatchewan.
A 2011 Canadian Cattlemen article noted about 120,000 head went through two rings each year, many of them during the six-week fall run.
David Nilsson said Nilsson Bros. would not comment on the decision to close Assiniboia, but he did say the smaller cow herd is a concern.
Kelvington manager Clint Peterson said the volume of cattle is the biggest factor, as well as the fact there are fewer smaller producers.
“A combination of operational economics and deteriorating infrastructure facility issues has led management to this difficult decision of not continuing to hold livestock sales at the Kelvington Stockyards effectively immediately,” said the website notice. “To our loyal livestock producer customers, we will be offering livestock marketing solutions.”
Livestock Marketers of Saskatchewan general manager Adele Buettner could not comment on the specifics of either closure but pointed squarely at the smaller cow herd.
“As the industry continues to consolidate, so does the marketing system.”
She said about 90 per cent of the province’s cattle are marketed through LMS members, and capacity is available to handle the numbers that went through Assiniboia.
She also said there are more marketing choices for producers, and the industry is changing.
Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association president Jeff Yorga said the costs of operating a livestock auction have increased significantly, and margins are tight on fewer cattle.
“Where it’s going to be difficult is for the guy who’s got two head,” he said of a closure like Assiniboia.
“With fewer producers and with fewer cows, it’s another cost to the small guy, which hastens their exit. It makes it more difficult for the guy with 40 cows to compete because now he has to get a liner in to haul calves (farther).”
Grant McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, said the situation is the result of drought and the shrinking herd.
“We want more competition, we want more jobs, we want more businesses, but this is another side effect of drought,” he said.
Wright said the two Saskatchewan closures are the only ones so far this year. The Spiritwood auction closed in 2022.
However, he noted there has been consolidation in Alberta in the last few years, too, to form larger auction companies that can operate on economy of scale.
He said auction closures devastate communities because people are no longer coming to town for that reason.
“The farmers that are coming in deliver cattle, stop to get gas, they buy meals, they buy parts. It’s traffic into the community. And when they leave, they always leave with a cheque, so they’ve got money to spend.”
He said farmers do rally when they learn their local auction is in trouble but are rarely successful at keeping it going. One success story is Weyburn, Sask., which was on the verge of closing but revived by new management.
Wright added that the management teams at a lot of auctions are aging, and finding qualified people to replace them is difficult.
Like Yorga, Wright said operating costs are huge. For example, paying producers for a 3,000-head sale within the legal time limit requires a substantial line of credit, he said.
“That’s something that’s a bit of a challenge for individuals that are coming in wanting to buy a market or run a market. Once they get looking at the books and see how much money you have to float, it scares some of them away.”
Wright has been in the business for 44 years and said the massive change in farming practices has also affected auction operations.
Farmers used to grow barley and wheat, and a poor crop became cattle feed. Farmers would then buy some animals to use that feed.
“As the market operators, we got a chance to handle some of those cattle two and three times in their lifetime,” he said.
“Now everybody’s growing canola and everything else.… We don’t have those farmer-feeders. We get one crack at those calves most of the time, and that’s off the cow in the fall or in the spring.”
Wright said the industry isn’t going back to those days and now faces more regulatory challenges as well in terms of traceability, movement reporting, hours of service and occupational health and safety that affect day to day operations.
He predicts that even as the herd rebuilds, auctions will struggle with declining numbers. Producers will retain heifers, which means they aren’t going to town.
“I think the writing is on the wall. We have too many auction marts in the country for the number of cows that we have. We don’t like to talk about that, but that’s a fact. Some will survive and some will not.”
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