We are still dry. And the problem—if you can believe a weatherman—is that the highest percent of chance for rain the next two weeks is 15%.
At the auction today this is seven weeks in a row that we have sold over 1,000 cows with the most going to slaughter. A lot of those middle-aged cows and bred 5 months can be bought by the pound mostly from $63 per hundredweight to $70 per hundredweight, which is a good buy if you have anything at all for them to eat.
Our younger bred cows were a little higher and there are some young open cows going back out to be bred. If we can get some moisture by spring all of those could be a very good buy.
Most long weaned grass cattle are gone already in the feedlot. There are a lot of weaned and unweaned calves being sold. I’m not sure what we will have left to sell in a few weeks.
Gas prices are going back up. And most everything you buy is a lot higher than it was a year ago.
Feeder cattle on Oct. 10 were down hard on the futures but bounced back higher gaining back what they lost on Monday. At the sale barn we will ask the seller if he wants to guarantee his heifers as open or not. Many will say they do realizing they will gain sometimes $20 per hundredweight. Then we ask them if they have any breds do they want to take home or if we are to resell the breds. I am amazed at the sellers that are still confused on this issue.
I have had some say—Oh, I just couldn’t—meaning I would be giving them my word if they were bred then I would be lying. That is not the case, the buyer doesn’t care as he realizes that he is only going to pay for the open ones. Then we resell the breds for him often sorting the four months and less in one bunch as they might abort them. And the five months or more in another bunch as they will normally go to be calved out.
Two grade school age kids were discussing old age when one of the kids said, “I wonder if old people have any fun?” The other said, “Well, I think they do cause every time you hear someone turning 100 years old he is always having a party.”
Two farmers were talking about college tuition costs. One asked the other, “Has your son’s college education proved of any real value? The other said, “After we paid for his tuition this time his mother finally stopped bragging about him going to college.”
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.
