We keep getting rain and I am not complaining. A kinda wondered if God wants to see if farmers and ranchers will start complaining about too much rain.
All of us were concerned and probably complaining three months ago with no rain, no grass, no hay, and no optimism. Now we are finally getting some cane for hay or grazing. Even if it’s not your hay and it is several of your neighbors it is still a plus for you because then maybe they won’t be competing against you for what hay there is for sale.
Now I hear several ranchers say, “Do you have any good young cows for sale?” And another said he wanted middle-aged, bred cows.
This slaughter cow and bull market is extremely good. The top cow brought $127 per hundredweight and the top bull brought $132.50. Feeder cattle futures are about $250 per hundredweight with April fats at $190.72 per hundredweight and all other fat cattle futures from $180 to $189.
I love a good cattle market and this market will allow some cattlemen to show some excellent profits particularly on some of these big steers weighing 900 to 1,000 pounds when they bring from $2,100 to $2,275 per head.
One rancher put some of the manure from the sale barn for the past two months on a field that was old world bluestem and then just took a land leveler to smooth it out. And where the manure was put that grass was 2-foot taller than where the manure was not put. It couldn’t have been a better year to do that as the land probably was getting more than 10 inches of rain on top of that soil.
There were three dwarfs that all got together. The first one said, “I think I have the smallest ears on the world.” The second one said, “Well, I think I have the smallest feet in the world.” The third one said, “Well, I’m kinda embarrassed but I think I have the smallest mid-section in the world.”
So they all said, “Let’s check the Guinness Book of World Records to find out for sure.” The first one said, “Wow, I’m excited. I do have the smallest ears in the world.” The second one blurted out in excitement, “I have the smallest feet in the world.” The third one started cussing and was mad as heck. The other two dwarfs asked, “What is the matter?” The third dwarf said, “I thought for sure I had the smallest midsection but who the heck is this Jerry Nine?”
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.
