Most cattle auctions are having their last week of sales for the year. We had our cow sale and sold 1,060 cows, bulls and a few calves. Most packers will put some cows on feed particularly to have enough cows for filler to keep the processing plant numbers to where they need to be.
I used to buy killing cows about 30 years ago and the plant that I bought for would feed some cows but at that time they wanted to only feed them 42 or 43 days. After that it became less efficient. That may not be the case now.
Feed is high enough so for the average producer to put cows on feed he would have to get a big swing up in price to make it work. Some packers are buying those medium-bred cows and feeding them to heavy bred to harvest them before they calve.
We need a rain and I guess we are one day closer than we were yesterday. The wind blew terrible last Friday and it was supposed to be extremely windy on Dec. 15. Sorting cattle in the wind by yourself can test your religion. You open the gate and push the calf and the gate closes on its own and the calf runs by.
Calf prices have actually stayed better in price than you might expect with it getting dry.
Some hedges for feeders and maybe fats look pretty tempting. With $179.50 per hundredweight feeders and fats five months later at $142—well, maybe that works—but I’m not sure with high feed.
Did you ever notice that when you put the two words together THE and IRS that it spells THEIRS?
A friend told me being young is exciting but being old is comfortable. But my thinking is who wants to be comfortable?
Some people try to turn back their odometers and act like they are younger than they are. Not me. I want people to know why I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and a lot of the roads were not paved.
We were talking about a lady who could draw a picture that everything on a calf looked realistic—even the hair on the calf’s nose. I asked a gal sitting at the table if she could draw that good? Her dad said, “She draws.” I said, “Really.” He said, “Yes, she draws flies.”
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.
