The cow killing market has hung in there better than most years and most years some packers get so many cows sent off these big ranches directly to their packing house that it throws them out of the market.
Going directly to the slaughterhouse with your cows and bulls might save commission but I have always heard they use these cows to cheapen their other cows up. Also, if you go directly you do not get the advantage of a cow being pregnant. And I can tell you there are a lot of times a rancher will say they are all old and there will be several middle aged on there.
Also, if you sell directly often there are 3- to 5-year-old cows that will go back to the country to be rebred or some younger ones to the feedlot.
I would say now there is a good demand for younger bred cows and pairs but to me there are middle-aged bred cows that are too cheap. Also, some of those toothless heavy-bred old cows might be an excellent buy. We sold some of them for $675 to $725.
Big yearling steers and heifers are in short supply and the true yearlings off grass are a very good price.
There are several fields of wheat that has stooled out better and faster than I thought it would for no longer than it has been planted. However, I had a friend from eastern Oklahoma who called and said, “Can you find me some wheat pasture?” I said, “Basically to get good wheat pasture you would need to go 70 miles east or south.”
What I call wheat pasture most good farmers in a better area would say is not very good. But I reminded him it is more important to know the person you are putting your cattle on than the price.
Rocky mountain oysters are the original sack lunch. I do not have a bucket list by my first “screw it list” is a mile long.
A turtle has learned to breathe through its backside. Humans have not reached this stage of evolution although many have learned to talk through it.
A friend of mine has been trading stocks on the stock market daily. But in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender hollered last call.
Sandra said to Dewayne—“Let’s enjoy our Saturday and Sunday.” Dewayne replied, “OK, I’ll see you on Monday.”
Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the view of High Plains Journal. Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
