By Jerry Nine
Almost always this time of year slaughter cows and bulls get cheaper. They are still an extremely good price compared to a normal year.
What I observed this past two weeks that slipped the most in price was a cow that was thin and 900 pounds or less. If a person had some cheap feed or the prospect of wheat pasture you could take that $70 per hundredweight cow and put 200 pounds on her then she is big enough all the packers want them and if the market goes back to where it was after this September and October run you will advance them $35 per hundredweight plus a few will probably have calves.
I was told a rancher was losing some hay bales every few days, so he alerted the law and an officer put a tracker in the middle of a bale. That’s good—I hate a thief.
A young Mennonite man who is single works at the sale barn. The woman who runs the café asked him about his friend that used to work here also. He said, “He is married and has a kid now.” He said the baby doesn’t have much hair yet.
So I said, “He doesn’t have much hair yet. He doesn’t look like you, does he?” He smiled and said, “No chance.”
The other day one of the neighbors came into the café for breakfast and was asking directions to another man’s house. So they started telling him, “From the Midway church…” I stopped them and said, “He doesn’t know where the church is. Give him directions from the beer joint.”
I was sitting by a couple in a restaurant a few days ago and both of them looked about the same size and not exactly skinny if you know what I mean. She orders a nice meal for a farmer working in the field all day then it was time for her husband to order and she says to him, “You could get you a nice Romaine salad.”
He said, “Nice try, but no thank you.” Then he ordered a nice-sized meal.
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.
