Feeder sale

[midTN_Brangusman]

With no Mexican origin cattle being able to come in to the US now and big rains in wheat country, I predict in the spring 5 weight calves will bring over $400 per cwt.

 

[Dave]

I talked to the young man I left the order with at the feeder sale. It appears that 2 guys stuck it out the the bred cows at 1:30 in the morning. They pushed each other up to $1,800 on broken mouth cows bred 5-6 months. Sale started at 10:30 AM. 15 hours later they sold the bred cows. And they still had the kill cows and bulls to sell. They had 3,371 head. The calf prices look real good.

 

[Dave]

We really need to start a replacement heifer program but with these prices it's hard to not take the money. I'm sure the cattle numbers will be affected by this. Cows may stay fairly high for a few years after feeder prices drop. We're trying to take advantage of the good prices to upgrade facilities and equipment but prices there have gone up too. Priced a new Pearson Prime chute and 15' adjustable alley today and it was $15k. Seems everything cost thousands of dollars now.

Heifers in the 600-700 range seem to be the best deal on the market here. I could put together a bunch of them for a $1,500 average or less. If I had somewhere to put them I would be buying a pot load of them. Breed them in May and sell in the fall. But after the fires grass is going to be in short supply this summer.

 

[1982vett]

Might be a year to just take it easy and not do much.

 

[Dave]

Might be a year to just take it easy and not do much.

I have noticed that those people who retire and "take it easy and not do much." Don't live very long.

 

[CowboyRam]

I have noticed that those people who retire and "take it easy and not do much." Don't live very long.

My grandfather had several friends that said they were going to get rocking chair when they retired. They didn't last long afterwards. He on the other hand was always doing something. If it was not puttering around in his garage building lamps on his wood lathe he was out fishing or something. Had it not been for colon cancer I think he would have made it to his 90's. I think not only do you need to keep the body moving, you need to keep the mind active.

 

[1982vett]

I have noticed that those people who retire and "take it easy and not do much." Don't live very long.

I'm sure you can find plenty to keep you busy for a season even without a bunch of critters to look after.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

My father retired from his 9-5 job and is busier now than when he worked. Difference now is he does what he wants when he wants.

 

[Dave]

I'm sure you can find plenty to keep you busy for a season even without a bunch of critters to look after.

Well at this moment I have 35 one and done cows in the field. Another 25 to buy. But if I had a place for a load of bred heifers I would do that. I learned a long time ago cows can be as much or as little work depending on how you go about it. A lot of people make it a lot more work than necessary.
In the words of Corb Lund, May you always have some cows around.

 

[GoWyo]

Well at this moment I have 35 one and done cows in the field. Another 25 to buy. But if I had a place for a load of bred heifers I would do that. I learned a long time ago cows can be as much or as little work depending on how you go about it. A lot of people make it a lot more work than necessary.
In the words of Corb Lund, May you always have some cows around.

Will you be able to run them all summer after the fire?

 

[Travlr]

But after the fires grass is going to be in short supply this summer.

Probably depends on rain and when and how often it comes. As long as the roots are alive the grass should be good with rain.

 

[C-Ranch]

I've thought about buying heifers, breeding them and selling in the fall with a Feb/Mar calving window. My only issues is they would have to be dry lotted the whole time as my summer pasture grounds are maxed out, so I'd be going through a lot more feed, fuel and labor.

 

[GoWyo]

Probably depends on rain and when and how often it comes. As long as the roots are alive the grass should be good with rain.

BLM grass isn't as resilient (sarc). Resource Management Plans (RMPs) often require 2-3 years deferment no matter what the science says. New studies support hitting cheat grass first thing the following fire to suppress it and let the perennial grasses get restarted, but the agency is always 15 years behind the science.

 

[Dave]

There is grass for the old cows but find a new place for the heifers would be the issue. The BLM is saying 2 to 5 years before the cows can go back. On a most of the places fences are the issue. And if you don't have the fences done now it will be March or maybe April before you can get started on them. Winter is about to arrive.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Winter is prime time to build fence haha. Not much else going on other than feeding cows.

 

[Silver]

Winter is prime time to build fence haha. Not much else going on other than feeding cows.

Typically fence building is out of the question up here in winter conditions. But I did buy a post driver that people tell me will drive post through some frost so if I get some time I hope to go and try it.

 

[GoWyo]

We got an inch of precipitation at end of October. If we hadn't received that, we could dig holes all winter even if it's -40* because there wasn't a bit of moisture in the ground.

 

[Dave]

We have too much rock to dig holes in a lot of places. Hard to see what the ground is like under the snow. But the real reason is too much snow on steep ground. That makes travel extremely difficult and even dangerous in places. Down here in the valley a person could build fence but there is not much needed down here low.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Typically fence building is out of the question up here in winter conditions. But I did buy a post driver that people tell me will drive post through some frost so if I get some time I hope to go and try it.

Once we get a couple of feet of snow the frost thaws out. So you can clear fenceline and put posts in as long as you work quickly before it starts to freeze again. Once the snow/insulation is off it can freeze quick depending on temperatures.

 

[CowboyRam]

The frost is already going in the ground around here. I had hoped to get my irrigation bubbler in this fall; this ditch company was supposed to do all my digging; they didn't have time to do it earlier, so now we wait for spring. It will probably go in March or April, just needs to be done before there is water in the canal.