Prices

[Angus Cowman]

Just wondering what prices were in other parts of the country

at Joplin this week
5wt steers $1.12 to $1.22
6wt steers $1.02 to $1.14
7wt steers $.92 to $1.05
hfrs were from 5-8cents back

high dressing cows were from $.52 to $.60
bulls from $.62 to $.68

 

[kenny thomas]

Looks better there than here.
Steers and bull calves I bought this week, black, bwf and charX weighed 498 and cost 95.33.
400-450 was about 1.00 to 1.05.
Heifers were almost all in the 80's.
Best cows .53

 

[kenny thomas]

Anyone keeping up with prices this week. Going up very fast. Anyone have an opinion why? Hope it keeps up until Monday and I can get some more sold.

 

[1982vett]

Sold a few cull fat cows Wednesday. 52.50 - 57.50

52.50 hereford cow weight 1165
57.50 hereford cow weight 1415
56.50 brangus cow weight 1310

 

[kenny thomas]

Just think in August the same cows would have done good to bring .35. Sounds like they paid their feed bill to keep them.

 

[1982vett]

Definitly better than December.

All three made the list since Fall.

Found the brangus cows calf dead a few days after it was born. She was going on 9 and her bag was beginning to look bad.
The big hereford was supposed to calve in September, around the time I saw her bulling. Saw her breed again in December.
The other hereford, her last calf wasn't all that great and neither was this one. It did bring 1.02, black baldy heifer calf weight 365. :secret: it just turnd 6 months.

Didn't see any point in waiting for better prices. The oats is getting short and Spring looks a ways off yet.

After last year, didn't think I'd need to cull for a while. Am tickle at the price they brought.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Anyone keeping up with prices this week. Going up very fast. Anyone have an opinion why? Hope it keeps up until Monday and I can get some more sold.

on superiors auction today saw some 8wts in Kansas bring mid 90s locally seen some 6wt steers bring $1.12 and some 7 wts bring $1.10

 

[bigbull338]

went to the sale monday.an top end heavy weigh cows was bringing .40 to .52 or better.light cows was bringing .30 to .40.saw an old cancer eye cow bring .10 a lb.

 

[dewey]

Anyone keeping up with prices this week. Going up very fast. Anyone have an opinion why? Hope it keeps up until Monday and I can get some more sold.

i heard corn prices was going down and when that happens cattle prices tend to go up.

 

[SRBeef]

The USDA issued the January "final" crop report for 2009 this past week and regardless of whether or not it is correct (I have my doubts) it was fairly negative for corn and soybeans. This is generally a positive thing for cattle.

There is an upcoming cattle report which looks like US herd size will be down again. Feeder cattle prices are going up locally in WI and I believe most markets.

Here is a link to prices from January 8 feeder sale from a very good local market. They had a larger sale yesterday (1/15) but have not posted prices as of yet. I believe they were significantly higher yet.

http://www.bloomingtonlivestock.com/index.cfm?show=10&mid=79

If you have a few minutes these two reports from IPTV's Market to Market program are well worth a listen. They tie together the crop report and livestock prices. And finally someone points out it takes two years to raise a calf - so supply is not likely to increase very fast.

http://205.221.205.11/MarketToMarket/MarketAnalysis/a-podcast/3520disc.mp3

http://205.221.205.11/MarketToMarket/MarketPlus/a-podcast/3520plus.mp3

Jim

 

[kenny thomas]

Odd that all the experts did not know this before Christmas. Sure don't want them handling my money. Nothing has happened that should have made the cattle go up this much in 3 weeks. I am glad it has though. Have a few more to sell on Monday.

 

[SRBeef]

Odd that all the experts did not know this before Christmas. Sure don't want them handling my money. Nothing has happened that should have made the cattle go up this much in 3 weeks. I am glad it has though. Have a few more to sell on Monday.

As far as corn goes, the "experts" on the above program, Market to Market, HAVE been advising producers to sell corn for the last month or so.

Here is their Jan 1, 2010 market analysis segment where the analyst urges producers to take advantage of profitable corn futures - corn growers could have sold some 2010 production for over $4 on the futures markets and covered themselves.

http://205.221.205.11/MarketToMarket/MarketAnalysis/a-podcast/3518disc.mp3

I think the main thing is to know what your costs of production are then sell a portion of your production on the futures market when the market offers you a profit. Corn is a bit different than cattle because you can store corn a bit easier.

However for larger cattle producers you CAN take advantage of futures markets and sell a portion of your production at intervals (once a month or once a week) when the market is offering a price above your cost of production.

Sure it may go higher later. but it may go lower too. Selling a part of production when there is a profit to be had means you won't make a "killing". But you won't go broke either. The difficult part for many of us is knowing what our real cost of production is. Also it is tough to pull the sell lever when you are busy feeding and it is -10, the waterer is frozen, etc. That is why I think it is better to establish a written sell plan and stick to it rather than having to make daily sell decisions.

As far as "experts" go, I think it is important to remember that if these folks were perfect they would probably be sipping cool drinks on a beach somewhere instead of sitting in front of TV cameras. But it is information for us to put together, combine with our own observations and local data/situation to make our own informed decisions.

jmho. Jim

 

[greengrasscattle]

Anyone keeping up with prices this week. Going up very fast. Anyone have an opinion why? Hope it keeps up until Monday and I can get some more sold.

i heard corn prices was going down and when that happens cattle prices tend to go up.

The last 4 trading days for corn, have resulted in a 14% decrease in feed costs. That would work out to around a $52 savings on a 6 cwt calf. A person could pay $8.80 a cwt more for that calf. That was just the last 4 days.

 

[BRG]

Here are some prices from some of our customers at Mobridge Livestock and Hub City the last week

Prairie View Ranch - 69 Red Strs - 768lbs - $101.75
Ron Opheim - 43 Red Strs - 714lbs - $100.50
Jerry Leibel - 78 Red Strs - 730lbs - $100.25
Merle Leibel - 62 Red Strs - 765lbs - $98.00
Ron Opheim - 66 Red Strs - 814lbs - $96.25
Gaikoski Ranch 78 Red Steds - 700lbs - $106.00

 

[SRBeef]

In addition to the Mobridge prices above. Here are last Friday's (1/15/10) feeder sale prices from the Bloomington Livestock Exchange, a good market in SW WI.

http://www.bloomingtonlivestock.com/index.cfm?show=10&mid=79

Things are looking up a bit. Long ways to go, in my opinion, but heading in the right direction.

Jim