Where do the sale barns get their starting price.. I'd like to know what to expect other than them saying price is up a nickel or down a nickel . Do they use feeder cattle price from the market report ? If so is that price set on a 500 steer. I know this is something I should know but I always did it like my grand pa and call the barn..
Sale barn price question.
- Thread starter JSCATTLE
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Kingfisher
Well-known member
Which barn? What are you selling?
JSCATTLE
Well-known member
Steers and heifers .. 500 lbs plus.. Any sale barn we have 4 within 100 miles of me .. They have to have a starting point .. They surely don't wake up that morning and go well I think 1.40 is a good place to start ..
kenny thomas
Well-known member
There is no starting point except what the buyers want to give that day you sell. Lately that price has been less each day.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Well yes maybe. But there are many factors in the last couple months that are influencing the price. The future traders are killing us and they never see a calf nor get **** on their boots. The pricing is dropping so fast calves that seem to be cheap enough may look high 2 days later when they arrive at the feedlot.
If they told you calves were down a nickel they could be comparing what they will bring this week to what they brought last week. Or they could have meant something different. If you flat out ask them what they will bring assuming you know the weight and quality of your cattle some will give a decent estimate.
Toad
Well-known member
The sale barn is just one option, you can market cattle other ways. Locally I know several buyers who will buy certain types of calves as long as they are good quality. When I was buying calves and raising them to around 800lb I sold direct almost exclusively.
Auctions are a bit of a crap shoot but if you watch market reports and the future markets you should be able to guess fairly close to what good cattle will bring. Now if you are marketing something that isn't the norm in your area then its more of a guess what it might bring.
Auctions are a bit of a crap shoot but if you watch market reports and the future markets you should be able to guess fairly close to what good cattle will bring. Now if you are marketing something that isn't the norm in your area then its more of a guess what it might bring.
JSCATTLE
Well-known member
I've noticed that I can go to 3 different sales Tuesday Wednesday and Saturday and the price will vary .30 c a pound .. in the same week .. I don't have enough calves to get a buyer to come down and buy direct .. I'm not set up for that .. I do watch the market reports and feeder calf prices but every time they go up and I sell the price seems to drop .. not just on my calves but all the calves at the sell .. when I ask about it I get the standard prices were down this morning .. so,I want to know what they are looking at to decide what the buyers will pay that day ..
If the futures are down hard in the morning that will usually hurt the prices pretty bad. Most buyers watch the board pretty close. You can see that here. If the board is down over a dollar prices will more than likely be cheaper on everything that day. If it goes up every day for three or four days prices will get better.
http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/
http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/
No the contract is for 50,000 lbs of 7-800 lb steers if I remember right. The price on there affects all weights though. The futures prices have been dropping almost every week for months so many buyers have been out of the market on light weight calves until they see some stability in the futures market.
The live cattle contract is for fat steers or heifers. I think it is for 40,000 lbs have to be 55% choice and the rest select and they have to weigh between 1050 and 1500.
The live cattle contract is for fat steers or heifers. I think it is for 40,000 lbs have to be 55% choice and the rest select and they have to weigh between 1050 and 1500.
JSCATTLE":1gup5n6p said:
All you can control is your input costs and even then you don't have much control.
Been doing it a while. I know they were higher than ever, but I can't ever remember them falling this fast. 9/11, and the mad cow scare was a blood bath if you were holding very many. Don't seem like they tanked this though, but time heals a lot wounds. Maybe I just got over those.
At the vet today a rancher told us he sold his calves (mainly steers) earlier in the week for avg. $500 per less than last year. 600 - 700# were $168 - 177 & 700 - 800# were $160 - 164.50. Ouch!
Tim/South
Well-known member
Take into account that the value of a 450 lb. calf depends on what the projected value will be when that calf is 750 - 800 lb. and ready to be put on feed. If the stockers think futures will be up then they can pay us more for our calves.
Toad
Well-known member
Haul them to a buyer if you aren't big enough to have them come to you. Here I have one guy who will buy almost any weight if they are good. Another guy will buy feeders to ship, normally its best to talk to him and if you have a few he will let you know when he needs a few to finish out an order. I know of at least 2 other local guys who ship cattle as well and would probably buy direct from me if they were putting a similar load together.JSCATTLE":1pbtmeyn said:
