It is still very frustrating to trade fat cattle at $111. We have no bargaining power the way we do business. Luckily, we have a very competitive feeder market. Our 800- to 850-pound feeder steers brought $156.50 to $159 and the 700- to 750-pound weights topped at $167.
We sold a load of heifers weighing 666 pounds that brought $159.50. I believe if I had been buying them I would have said figure that at 667. That 666 might scare me a bit since in the Bible that is the mark of the beast. A load of 635 heifers brought $161.50. I felt our whole sale was very aggressive. There seems to be a little more demand for bred cows and young pairs also.
A lot of the wheat and triticale has been or is being planted in our area with a few customers saying they could use a rain. Also customers two hours south of Oklahoma City need it to dry out soon so they can plant their wheat in order for any fall wheat pasture.
This is the time of year when we normally see more cows culled mostly because most ranchers calve in the spring and then sell the old cow when they wean the calf. Some ranchers want to go directly to slaughter thinking they are making money by saving commission. When most say the packer doesn’t give them full price and the big disadvantage of doing that is any cow bred 5 months or more even with no teeth will bring $100 to $300 more.
My kids’ baby sitter for the past 19 years, her and I tease each other a lot. She brought something out for one of the boys and leaned down to pet our dog. She said to the dog, “You are almost as fast as I am.” So I said, “Now, look how depressed and sad the dog acts now.” So I leaned down and started petting our dog and said, “Don’t be sad. You are not as fat as she is.”
This past weekend a cop stopped me. He said, “You are driving too fast.” I said, “I know. I’m just trying to keep up with the traffic.” He said, “There is no traffic.” I said, “I know. That just shows how far behind I am.”
There is a middle-aged couple in our hometown that got married the other day. She had just gotten out of the shower and was walking toward the bedroom with a towel wrapped around her. He said, “Honey, drop that towel.” She said, “Why?” He said, “I want to take a picture of you and carry it with me all day long.” About an hour later, he had just gotten out of the shower and also had a towel wrapped around him. She said, “Honey, drop that towel.” He said, “Why?” She said, “I want to take a picture of you.” He said, “How come?” She said, “I want to take it and have it enlarged.”
Editor’s note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
