I just looked at November feeder futures and it was $230.95. So I asked a friend of mine that feeds a lot of cattle what he thought the high would be and he shrugged his shoulders “like who the heck knows?”
He said, “I’m not sure we can sell them.” But what he was really saying, “I’m not sure we can sell fats that high.” I said, “Oh yeah we can sell them.” But it might be like another year I remember when I got them sold but didn’t exactly like the price.
We are still dry as heck. East of us 100 miles they got hail that looked like it was 2 or 3 inches deep. One rancher said, “Wow, we can’t get rain but I guess all we can get is hail.” I said, “Well I would take it cause I don’t have anything tall enough to knock down like grass or wheat so at least it would be moisture.”
Now the area that got the hail did have some wheat that was 6 inches tall.
Our whole feeder and calf market is a ball of fire. All the way down from small calves to 1,110-pound feeders there is a strong demand. Killing cows are still selling good. I thought our fleshiest cows were a little cheaper but still strong. All those better slaughter bulls were $120 to $126.
Last week at the sale we had three bulls come into the ring. So I hollered and said, “Are those bulls guaranteed fertile?” Kyle said, “Well, the one is crippled.” I said, “Yeah, I can see him.” I said, “How about the other Charolais bull?” Kyle had put him on the other side by then. So I said, “What was the matter with him?” Kyle said he thought he was high headed, meaning wild. I said, “Well, heck, I am high headed” and so I bought him.
By that time he had put the next bull over there where I couldn’t see him either. I said, “How about him?” He said he thought he had too little of nuts. I said, “Well, I am not going to comment about myself on that one.”
If a man and a woman who are married get into an argument the best way for a man to settle the argument is to take off all his clothes. Then I am quite sure the woman will have a headache and go into the other room.
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.
