Heartland Livestock Services announced the closure July 25; the Brandon auction mart has been a historic standby for Manitoba beef producers selling their cattle
Manitoba’s livestock producers have one less place to sell their animals.
Heartland Livestock Services announced July 25 that they are closing their Brandon location.
The company, a major livestock marketer in the province, also operates auction mart locations in Virden, and in neighbouring Saskatchewan at Moose Jaw, Yorkton and Swift Current. It’s owned by Nilsson Bros. Inc., whose head office is in St. Albert, Alta.
The business also has a digital element, listing cattle through the Direct Livestock Marketing System.
WHY IT MATTERS: Heartland’s Brandon site has been a long-standing fixture of the cattle marketing landscape in Manitoba.
“It was a bit of a surprise,” said Matthew Atkinson, a cow-calf producer near Neepawa and president of the Manitoba Beef Producers.
“I mean, on one hand, it was probably inevitable to see changes there someday. But the closure always hits you as a bit of a surprise for sure.”
He added that “it’s disappointing to see a spot go that you know, one time, was kind of a flagship.”
Rick Wright chief executive officer with Livestock Markets Association of Canada and previous manager at the Heartland site also noted the economic impact to an area after an auction mart closes.
“It’s one less competitor trying to get calves to sell, so that takes a little of the competition out,” he said, adding that “it wasn’t that long ago that Brandon was the place to sell your cattle. It was the biggest market in Manitoba.”
Wright should know. He was the general manager of the Brandon location for a decade.
At one point not that long ago, Wright noted, the auction mart was selling 100,000 cattle a year, but volumes in recent years have slipped considerably from that level, he said.
According to data from Manitoba Agriculture’s weekly market reports, Brandon saw just over 25,000 cattle marketings in 2024.
National trend with small cattle herd
It’s not just Heartland, however. Manitoba’s beef cattle herd, like the national herd, has been in a state of decline for years. The province’s beef cow numbers have declined sharply and, with the exception of a small bump in the late ’10s, consistently since 2007, by Manitoba Agriculture’s numbers.
Last year, the province noted under 381,000 head sold across the province, across all auction marts and digital sale options.
Nationally, Canada has fewer beef cattle than it has seen in decades. From 2021-2024, Statistics Canada reported that the number of cattle on Prairie beef farms dropped by 650,000 head, or 7.3 per cent.
That means tougher competition for auction marts, Wright noted, and western Manitoba is no exception.
“The competition (among auction marts) has gotten better, more focused on what they’re doing and they’re hired better managers, or it’s privately owned and they’re fighting for it,” he said.
There were also two major Saskatchewan auction mart closures last year. The Assiniboia Livestock Auction, also owned by Nilsson Bros., and Kelvington Stockyards both closed their doors in August 2024.
“It’s an evolution of the business, that’s what it is,” said Wright.
Roy Rutledge, who was the manager of the Assiniboia Livestock Auction at the time of the closure, thanked the business’s customers in a post to the company’s website, “Especially in 2023, when we tried to rejuvenate the business. Your business was really appreciated. But unfortunately, there wasn’t enough to keep us viable.”
Heartland Livestock Services Brandon is one of several Prairie auction marts to announce closures since the start of 2024. Photo: File
Loss to Brandon
Wright said he didn’t find the recent Brandon closure a big surprise.
“Maybe the timing was a bit of a surprise, and the way it was handled was a bit of a surprise,” he said.
“But anytime you see a piece of history like that disappear, it’s a sad day,” he added.
The metal structure of the building has had wear and tear, he said, while “the property where the stockyards sit is worth a lot of money. It’s probably worth more to sell than it is to own the stockyards.”
The site of the auction mart, located in the heart of Brandon’s urban centre, was also not as convenient as it once was to farmers as the city has grown and developed, Atkinson said.
“Honestly, I think one of the big impacts will be on the city,” he said.
Farmers who were in the city for sales anyway would take the opportunity to do other business, he noted.
“Every truck and trailer … if they haul cattle in or they went to see cattle sell, they then spend money in that city quite a bit, more than folks are thinking sometimes,” he said.
The Brandon auction mart is nestled close to the banks of the Assiniboine River just south of Brandon’s main downtown.
There used to be many agricultural businesses around there Wright noted. Most of them have closed, although garden seed business McKenzie Seeds maintains a facility. The old packing plants have been dismantled, and the area has largely transformed into green space with community softball diamonds and park space.
“It hasn’t been easy to get to for producers,” Wright said.
What the closure means for beef farmers
Atkinson said he was assured by David Nilsson, chief operating officer of Heartland Livestock Services, that the company will still have the same field reps covering the same areas.
“The reality is that we’ve seen a decline in the cattle herd, but we’ve also seen a shift in the cattle herd,” Atkinson said.
Manitoba now has big producers who are more interested in online and direct sales.
For those who don’t want to take the digital route, Atkinson said there are independent markets who will pick up the sales from the closure. Some will opt for sales in Virden, Heartland’s other Manitoba location. That site is newer and more modern, and a little more accessible for producers to get to, the producer added.
Others will head for auction marts in Killarney, Gladstone and Ste. Rose. That may mean a little more freight cost, he noted.
“Those auction marts, through the fall, starting back up after Christmas time in the New Year, they will be doing wholesale bookings three or four weeks in advance. It’s going to put a bunch more numbers on those sales, and it’s going to take a bit more planning and booking those cattle in to see what the impact is. We are going to see a change there for sure,” Atkinson said.
The chief operating officer of Heartland Livestock Services declined an interview.