Most of the cattle sales in our area are winding down by the end of Dec. 21 and will be shut down for two weeks. It will be good for a lot of people.
Most feedlots have been full enough they are only buying as they sell fat cattle. This two weeks will give people somewhat of a break and an opportunity to catch their breath and for some of us simply to be able to get away from the sale barn and do other things on the ranch that we should have done a long time ago.
Feeder cattle prices peaked at $159.71 per hundredweight on Oct. 1 and have fallen 14 percent to $136.93 per hundredweight on Dec. 10. It is forecasted for the fourth quarter the average on steers to be $146 to $149 per hundredweight. Most of us are simply tired of fighting a skimpy or no profit market and all this time beef is moving great.
Last week, we sold a nice string of black steers off the cow weighing 451 pounds for $2 a pound. They were nice. Bigger feeders are selling the best, as cattle feeders are still trying to hit April fat cattle. And it takes a very large feeder to get fat in April now.
So far we haven’t had much snow and personally I hope it stays that way. Earlier this year we had all kinds of people telling us that it was going to be a bad winter.
Bred cow and pair demand has been a lot better this past month than it was and we are finally selling some younger cows. For several months we were only selling middle aged and old ones and young ones that were open.
At our local café there is always a lot of variety of conversation. One ole cowboy brings in his own honey—not really sure why and of course he had left it in the pickup overnight so it was fairly frozen. And, of course, the rest of us at the table decided we should help him thaw out the honey. So I grabbed the plastic bottle and put it under my armpit.
Then another suggested between my legs. All the time the ole cowboy was hollering, “Give me that back.” So then I decided on my backside might be warmer between my cheeks.
But, being a little goofy I put the plastic bottom upside down so it’s a wonder the honey didn’t get all over my backside. Yes, sometimes, kids will be kids.
Last night I called our preacher and said, “Do you mind coming over and preaching for a few minutes?” He said, “How come?” I said, “I’m having a hard time going to sleep.”
Editor’s note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
