You know the more I read up on the cattle market the more I really want to dig into the numbers. Recently, the government just published that the cattle population was down by 1% over last year. I personally think it was much higher than that. I wonder where they get their info and how they conduct their census of the country's herd population.
I know of farmer after farmer who have either sold out or scaled back their herd because of economic pressures. I am certain that the South American herd population is up but I really think our numbers and Canada's are way down. I have looked at the total numbers from the sales in the stockyard report, but some of that is misleading. A lot of those guys may buy a few cows and then rerun them through the sale ring in a few months trying to make a buck. I am curious if you guys know of people who have gotten out of the business? Also, have you guys known of many farms adding substantial numbers to their herd in the past 18 months? The only guy I know of that was buying cows to put on a farm happened in winter of 08 when hay was expensive. He was a hay farmer and could not sell his hay to anyone because it was way too high. He bought a bunch of cows so he would not lose out completely, but he sold the following spring. I guess he bought 100 head to stick out on his place. However, I do know of 5 farms that have sold out completely in the past 24 months. Anyway, it would be an interesting thread…
I know of farmer after farmer who have either sold out or scaled back their herd because of economic pressures. I am certain that the South American herd population is up but I really think our numbers and Canada's are way down. I have looked at the total numbers from the sales in the stockyard report, but some of that is misleading. A lot of those guys may buy a few cows and then rerun them through the sale ring in a few months trying to make a buck. I am curious if you guys know of people who have gotten out of the business? Also, have you guys known of many farms adding substantial numbers to their herd in the past 18 months? The only guy I know of that was buying cows to put on a farm happened in winter of 08 when hay was expensive. He was a hay farmer and could not sell his hay to anyone because it was way too high. He bought a bunch of cows so he would not lose out completely, but he sold the following spring. I guess he bought 100 head to stick out on his place. However, I do know of 5 farms that have sold out completely in the past 24 months. Anyway, it would be an interesting thread…