Arkansas cattle auction summary

The Arkansas weely livestock auction summary indicated receipts of 8,115 head of cattle selling the week of Feb. 14 to 20, compared to 6,339 head the previous reporting period, according to the USDA-Arkansas Department of Agriculture Market News, Little Rock, Arkansas.

The total included 6,978 head of feeder cattle, 757 head of slaughter cattle and 380 head of replacement cattle, compared to the previous reporting period total of 5,908 head of feeder cattle, 304 head of slaughter cattle and 127 head of replacement cattle. Compared to the previous reporting period, the feeder and stocker steers were mostly selling $4 to $8 higher. The feeder and stocker heifers were steady to $4 higher. The feeder and stocker market had some major up and down price swings throughout the week. However, the buyers’ demand was good for grazing type cattle. The slaughter cows were steady to $3 higher. The slaughter bulls were not well tested last week so a trend was not established. The supply included: 86% feeder cattle with 40% steers, 0% were dairy steers, 49% were heifers and 11% were bulls; 9% was slaughter cattle with 83% cows and 17% were bulls; 5% was replacement cattle with 14% stock cows, 59% were bred cows, 9% were bred heifers, 18% were cow-calf pairs and 0% were bulls. The feeder cattle supply weighing over 600 pounds was 18%.