Bred cow/heifer Prices ?

[Stocker Steve]

I see articles frequently that forecast higher calf prices, but the boys must not be reading them because bred sales are soft.
Will it take $4 corn to fire people up or is there something else at play here?

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Here good pairs have been bringing 1400 to 1600$.

 

[BC]

I think people are being cautious, having been burned on "numbers are short, the sky is the limit" talk. We are seeing the same prices DenverMartin mentioned. It is getting dry here in Northeast Texas. From Ft Worth to the Texas panhandle is drier yet. In this part of the world, we need to get some grass and stock water back before rebuilding takes place.

On another note, clearing $100 to $150 per head doesn't bring in new blood. Most younger people or people with money to invest want an easier way to make money.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I agree with needing some rain to help the stock cow market, i will be feeding hay in a month if something don't change. I make way more than 150$ a head, but I also agree that there may be a lot of people not interested to take the risk for what the profit is. I did see some 900lb steers bring 1.41 this week so that's a improvement .

 

[Kingfisher]

The dumping started here last week. Lampasas went from @ 500 avg to over 1100 last week and I noticed they ran 4600 thru Jordan and that seems high. We don't have any grass. They warned folks to not stock up after the winter rains but I think folks did.

 

[Tim/South]

Even those of us with grass are not getting a good price for our calves.
The retail beef broke 8 consecutive records with the packers making a killing. The cow/calf operator's price received went down during that time. There is not a level playing field no matter what the shortage numbers say.

If things do not get better come fall then I will sell the cows as well as the calves.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We got a lot of rain for the pasture this spring, but I think hay will be high this fall. Too many acres were plowed up the last couple years. I think the days of $40 to $55/ton hay are behind us.
If you buy hay at current prices, and take any charges for OH, there is not any profit in commercial cows where the feeding season is 6 to 7 months long. Seasonal operations look better on paper since the amount of stored feed required is so much less.