My sister sold her steers last week so this week she made everyone who had sorted them or had worked them when they were calves some cookies and other goodies.
She walked up to one of the guys who had definitely sorted them and she said, “Here, I made you some stuff for sorting my cattle.” Then several of the other guys sitting at the table said, “I helped.” He replied, “Oh, no, you didn’t!” They responded, “Yes, we did. It was a team effort.” Anything for a cowboy to get something good to eat.
There are a lot of cows and bulls selling with a lot going to slaughter. However, our younger bred cows and pairs, even up to 7-year-olds, have been going back to the country. I am just amazed how good this market has stayed. This is the first time in the middle of a drought that our cows have stayed high. Where it was so dry up north earlier and also to the west those cows are already gone. Even though part of Texas was very dry for a long time part of the state got big rains.
All I know it is a blessing to sell cows this time of year at $30 per hundredweight higher than normal.
I think most all cattlemen think our cattle numbers will be in short supply. But the packer has gotten quite used to extra-large profits and they are probably not going to be willing to go for a low profit. Heaven forbid if we heard again the packer was losing money. I haven’t heard that term it seems like in 10 years.
Some sellers of feeder cattle are showing profits of $300 and more coming off grass, which is very welcomed with expenses knocking your head off. And interest rates have gotten quite a bit higher, too.
Some buyers were teasing our veterinarian about his pregnancy checking. The vet’s response was, “I am very accurate. I can promise you as sure as the day will end in Y.”
A gal that I graduated from high school with said she had blockage in her veins and could not attend the reunion. I said, “I am going to put you on the church’s prayer list.” While the rest of the class was celebrating, we Facetimed her. She said, “Jerry, I want to tell you ever since you put me on the prayer list I have had diarrhea.”
I said, “Well, you didn’t specify which end it had to come out of it. You simply said it was clogged.”
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.
