Bad advice?

[TexasRancher]

They had 3,000 calves at La Grande so I didn't stick around very long. But I did see a big lot of 650 pound steers sell for $2.45. A friend who stayed said lighter calves sold real well but the 700-800 pound ones were off.

All sale barns I've been too near me, you do well in the 380 to 620 range....raise them longer and sell them at 680 to 850lb you lose money putting on that extra weight. I like to take in 450 to 590 lb calves.....720 lb calf prices suck. You get the exact same dollar wise sale for 500lbs as you do for 750lbs...both are $1,400. cattle....so why put on that extra 250lbs.
Nobody has been able to tell me why this is at smaller sale barns.... but i truly believe it comes down to logistics...the bidders- filling orders can buy and fit more smaller ones in a semi-truck load and they're easier to handle as they won't stand there and challenge you.

 

[Travlr]

We had calves that were border line in the peak of prices, here. We started getting timely rains, I was busy, prices went all over the place, etc so they didnt get sold. We have decided to hold them until the spring. I set up a place with stockpiled grass, we have that oats and rye planted and I cut some hay I wasn't going to mess with, in preparation. Luckys thread on keeping calves and the situation all seemed to point to giving it a try. They are still on green grass right now. We haven't gotten a freeze yet.

I think this thing will come back strong if all the markets, as a whole, don't fall apart in the spring. We have gambled on that. This is not my MO so we will see if I get my butt handed to me.

With reduced cow numbers, if there is any decent spring grass I'd expect heifers to be selling high. I'd take the gamble.

 

[Brute 23]

With reduced cow numbers, if there is any decent spring grass I'd expect heifers to be selling high. I'd take the gamble.

We kept everything and I don't necessarily need heifers so the can go to AB or for replacements. Highest dollar will get them.

I was talking to a guy at the A&M station near here about holding them but wasn't sure if I would get the max value for the work at the AB. He said they use to sell the F1 Angus X calves from there all the time on Superior. He said the north Texas, OK, AK, etc buyers loved them and recommended looking in to it.

 

[Dave]

All sale barns I've been too near me, you do well in the 380 to 620 range....raise them longer and sell them at 680 to 850lb you lose money putting on that extra weight. I like to take in 450 to 590 lb calves.....720 lb calf prices suck. You get the exact same dollar wise sale for 500lbs as you do for 750lbs...both are $1,400. cattle....so why put on that extra 250lbs.
Nobody has been able to tell me why this is at smaller sale barns.... but i truly believe it comes down to logistics...the bidders- filling orders can buy and fit more smaller ones in a semi-truck load and they're easier to handle as they won't stand there and challenge you.

Last fall I bought 350-400 pound steers. They cost me right about $1.80 to buy them. Sold them at the sale barn in August weighing 805 and they sold for $2.42. So they cost $720 to buy and sold for $1,948. I had about $300 a head into feed.
They probably don't get enough similar size and type cattle to fill a load.

 

[kenny thomas]

Jan. 2024 feeder futures closed yesterday at $215.30, the March 2024 feeder futures closed at $216.07

You are correct. We can sell load lots for more than the futures. But LRP might have been 2.60 for January last June.

 

[TexasRancher]

Last fall I bought 350-400 pound steers. They cost me right about $1.80 to buy them. Sold them at the sale barn in August weighing 805 and they sold for $2.42. So they cost $720 to buy and sold for $1,948. I had about $300 a head into feed.
They probably don't get enough similar size and type cattle to fill a load.

That's the kind of sale barn i would like Dave....over here I buy a $2.42 for 400 lb calf and sell back a 805 lb steer for $1.80. Those numbers are Rocking!!

 

[Dave]

That's the kind of sale barn i would like Dave....over here I buy a $2.42 for 400 lb calf and sell back a 805 lb steer for $1.80. Those numbers are Rocking!!

It was a good year

Actually your number work to, just not a well. Can you put weight on for less than a dollar a pound? If so you make a profit just as big of one as I did this year.

 

[gcreekrch]

Not often one can sell big steers for more per pound than they were bought for as calves but this year was one.

 

[kenny thomas]

Prices are sure falling here this week. Hope its only temporary. I bought calves yesterday for .60 less than i sold some in August. And these were smaller so should have been higher.

 

[gcreekrch]

Prices are sure falling here this week. Hope its only temporary. I bought calves yesterday for .60 less than i sold some in August. And these were smaller so should have been higher.

Thought you were cutting back?

 

[kenny thomas]

Thought you were cutting back?

I was but couldnt sit there and see them sell so cheap. Selling in January i hope.

 

[farmerjan]

It's the time of year.... Always from early Nov through the holidays in Dec, prices fall off .25 to 1.00.... add to that the shortage of hay in the general area... people are also having to pay taxes and needing money for Christmas... and it seems that if they sold earlier, they couldn't "save" their money to pay the bills as they come due... people cannot seem to "sit on " any money in the bank and hold it to pay for other things in a month or 2. I watch people that hold on and then "have to sell" and get less and have had to pay for the added feed/grass/hay..... just boggles my mind around here...
You DO NOT SELL from 1st of Nov through the end of the year here.....it's good time to buy.

 

[kenny thomas]

I was but couldnt sit there and see them sell so cheap. Selling in January i hope.

Sold those calves Saturday. .70 a lb higher than i gave in December plus gained some weight. Now futures price is up 4.725 today.

 

[kenny thomas]

Feeder futures up as much as $5 for some months today. That leaves August 2024 futures ar 2.35. At one point as i already stated it was 2.82. Thats .47 down. A lot of $ difference on a load. $23,500 to be exact.

Futures for August today was 270.525. .35 higher than less than 2 months ago. $17,500 higher on a 50,000 lb load of the same cattle.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Woohoo

 

[gcreekrch]

You apologized for nothing……