Agriculture Financial Services Corporation is urging cattle producers to consider price insurance for their livestock.
Calf prices this spring have been in the $1.50- to $1.55-a-pound range, said Anne Dunford, an Alberta cattle market analyst. They could climb higher if moisture conditions in the U.S. turn around and large corn crops are harvested, she said, but market volatility and price swings are also possible.
Brenda Campbell, a Central Alberta field analyst with Lacombe-based AFSC, reports a surge of interest in Alberta’s cattle price insurance program, which AFSC administers.
“Participation has tripled in the CPIP-feeder program this year and we’re getting substantially more phone calls and questions about CPIP-calf, which is only in its second full year of being offered,” she said.
“It’s all because of the drop in calf and feeder prices last fall that triggered payouts of up to $80 per head on CPIP-calf and up to $195 per head on CPIP-feeder.”
The deadline to participate in CPIP-calf is May 30. CPIP-feeder and CPIP-fed are available year-round. Information about all three can be obtained at AFSC district offices, the AFSC call centre at 1-877-899-AFSC (2372) or the AFSC website at www.afsc.ca.