Cow Sale

[1982vett]

I remember kill cows hitting $1 per pound in the last price cycle rodeo.

and paid $4 for the sac of feed I'd now have to pay $12.

also, I got $4 a pound for a knotheaded 265lb calf....that's how low these "high" prices are today.

 

[gcreekrch]

Sold some steers yesterday, they were coming two. One and two nut mistakes I bought cheap and rung out light from chasing cows all summer in mid November. They weighed an average of 640 then. Four weighed 908 and brought $1.75 and five were 725 at $1.9850. I paid a buck for them and feed cost averaged to $4.40 per day. They did fine. Bought five bred heifers and a young cow for an average of $1330.

 

[Dave]

Very few cattle of any grade at the sale Thursday. Got a bred heifer weighing 1,240 and a solid mouth cow weighing 1,460. Both bred 7 months. Paid $1,100 for the heifer and $925 for the cow. All the other bred cows were big fat giants. They all went to kill. I think the kill buyers just let me have the two I bought. They paid more for the others than what I did.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I think the kill buyers just let me have the two I bought. They paid more for the others than what I did.

It's hard to find freinds at the sales barn.

Top bred cow prices are stable, but bottom end cows are worth much more by going to kill. Kill cows up U$S 10 here this week.

 

[J+ Cattle]

@Dave you can resell the cow next week and be in the money about $300. The kill buyers left you a valuable scrap.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Spoke with a guy who went to RFP recently. Sounds like they focus more on strategery in class, and you work a lot on your GM figur'n and tactics after you get home.

He is struggling with the GM/acre being much higher for crops than cows currently. Do we need to have a couple crop Boards on CT?

 

[Dave]

It's hard to find freinds at the sales barn.

Top bred cow prices are stable, but bottom end cows are worth much more by going to kill. Kill cows up U$S 10 here this week.

I have heard the feeder buyers giving the kill cow buyers a bad time. Telling them if they keep killing all the bred cows there wont be any calves next fall. Both of these cows are going on the exercise and diet plan this summer. They came from a pasture environment, not range land. We will see.

The other thing is there was just darn few cows that day. They weren't going to be filling a truck anyway.

 

[Stocker Steve]

A lot more kill cows, than cows going back to the country, at our recent sales. Guys who fed cows this winter should have made money, but they will run out of raw material at some point in the next two years.

So where do bred cows come from, if it is unprofitable to develop heifers most years?

 

[Dave]

Two weeks ago I went to a big bred cow sale in La Grande. 300 cows and I only got 2. Last week a bred cow sale at Vale. About 260 bred cows. I got one. I went to Vale today. Advertised as just a normal sale. First thing I went to the vet chute to see if they had any cows to preg check. There was 15 cows so I thought I would get a couple. So I went up on the cat walk to see what else was there. Oh my gosh there was over 100 cows that had already been checked. I ended up getting 20 cows on my number and 22 younger cows for B. Both of us got our cows under budget. There was basically 2 kill buyers, the sale yard manager, one other guy, and me bidding. These were all range cows. Not fat azz pasture cows. Mine averaged weighing 1,114 and I paid $838. They are all 7 or 7+ months bred. Broken mouth or 9-10 years old. B's were all solid mouth 7 or 7+ month bred and weighing about 1,160. I got them bought for him for $1,085. It was a good day to go to the sale.

 

[faster horses]

Two weeks ago I went to a big bred cow sale in La Grande. 300 cows and I only got 2. Last week a bred cow sale at Vale. About 260 bred cows. I got one. I went to Vale today. Advertised as just a normal sale. First thing I went to the vet chute to see if they had any cows to preg check. There was 15 cows so I thought I would get a couple. So I went up on the cat walk to see what else was there. Oh my gosh there was over 100 cows that had already been checked. I ended up getting 20 cows on my number and 22 younger cows for B. Both of us got our cows under budget. There was basically 2 kill buyers, the sale yard manager, one other guy, and me bidding. These were all range cows. Not fat azz pasture cows. Mine averaged weighing 1,114 and I paid $838. They are all 7 or 7+ months bred. Broken mouth of 9-10 years old. B's were all solid mouth 7 or 7+ month bred and weighing about 1,160. I got them bought for him for $1,085. It was a good day to go to the sale.

Patience is a virtue and it usually pays off. Good for you.

 

[Dave]

I spent the day going up and down the highway. I left this morning at 6:15. Two loads of cows came home from Vale. That is about a 3 hour round trip. I dumped the cows into the corral. They hadn't been fed so I fed them. Then we had to go town to sign some papers for Farm Credit. The little car was at the shop and needed to be picked up. The wife dropped me off and went on her way. I had to go to La Grande to the New Holland dealer. A part I was waiting for had come in. I drove something like 450 miles today. It was about 5:00 when I pulled in the driveway. My Dear Sweet wife was in the feed truck out in the pasture feeding the cows. I am one lucky man.

 

[Dave]

Patience is a virtue and it usually pays off. Good for you.

I added it up. Nine trips to the sale since February 1. This last trip I got more cows bought in 30 minutes than I did in the previous 8 trips.

 

[Dave]

So here is the motley crew plus one from last week. I took this picture this morning. B and the boys are coming to help run them through the chute early in the afternoon. About noon I figured I needed to get a couple bales for the stocker calves. As I was driving passed the pen I glanced at the cows. Wait there is a calf in there. Hold the phone there is 2 calves!!! I watched a calf nurse on one of the cows but who is the other mother? All the cows went through the chute. Hmmmmm there is one possible. Some blood on her and one quarter is possibly been nursed. Nothing hugely obvious. Are they twins? Who knows. When done the cows went out into the field. The 2 calves, mother cow, and possible stayed in the corral. Possible is one spooky witch.

 

[Dave]

Well this week I saw that the 2 calves were twins. So plan A we will tag one and run it, the mother, and possible out to general population. Possible is one snaky witch. She put B up the fence twice. But all is well that ends well. B didn't get run over, the calf got tagged, and they all went out to the field. Calf #2 is a bottle calf and being held in reserve in case a cow looses her calf. If #27 (possible cow) looses a calf I am not going to graft one on her. I value my life too much to try that.

 

[J+ Cattle]

Possible is one spooky witch.

Disposition is probably why she was at the sale to begin with, you might have been better off to let the kill buyers get that one.

 

[farmerjan]

You have at best 1 minute to evaluate a cow at the sale. If they come in snorting not a problem... let someone esle deal with them. But we bought a couple in Jan at a sale. 7 month bred... all bought as singles. Cow walked in, looked around, acted okay... 2nd cow came in and was a little more alive acting, but not anything unusual for a cow in a strange place... no problem loading in the trailer. get them home, let out, no big deal. within 2 days, could not get the one to come anywhere near the barn out of the lot and she would run from one end to another... got the others all stirred up. She would come in the barn if she thought no one was around... then run out like a bear was after her if she saw you. Started getting our quieter ones acting spooky. Calved with a dead calf... got her in the barn and the next day she went with several other open old cows... The other one got very spooky acting with her, but she had a tiny little calf, and is doing okay with it. Moved her up to the pasture with the quiet first calf heifers and the "pet cows" that I can get in the pen with no problem. Hoping her calf will hang with the other calves and start coming in the creep gate and get more used to me. Also got a 1st calf heifer nothing special to look, a little thin, but 7 months... but I only paid 450 for her, so a live calf was a plus, and if she raises it she will pay for herself, and her "board" for the summer. If she breeds back great, if not then I will ship her after she puts on some weight. But she has a chance. She was a little spooky acting in the ring, but I chalked it up to her youth and strange place. She has quieted right down.

 

[Dave]

Disposition is probably why she was at the sale to begin with, you might have been better off to let the kill buyers get that one.

No she was one of over 100 cows that all came from the same place. The neighborhood she came from she might have never seen a human on foot. And only saw the ones on horseback 2 or 3 times a year. Harney County Oregon is a very big empty place. I don't think I bought her as a single. That day I mostly bought groups of 4, 5, 6. She gets in with the other cows she will calm down some. She wasn't this waspy the day we branded. In about 5 weeks she will go out into an area where she will feel right at home.