Sale price help

[Anonymous]

Hello I am new to all of this so any help I can get would be appreciated. Below is a cattle sales report from the sales barn in lake land Florida dated 11/11/03. I understand the lightest weight caves going for veal and the value placed on veal. What I can't understand is the difference in price between in say a 450 lb. Calf and one that weights 550 lbs. This may seem naive but it seems to me that the bigger calf won't have to spend as much time on a feedlot so it should sell for more then the lighter calf. There is something here I am missing but its like the old saying I don't understand what I don't understand.

Feeder Steers and Bulls Medium and Large 1-2

Wt Range Avg. Wt Price Range

200-230 209 140.50-155.00

255-270 265 122.50-147.50

300-340 329 110.00-130.00

350-390 370 110.00-126.00

400-410 401 102.00-107.00

450-485 473 100.00-110.00

505-525 516 90.00-93.00

550-560 555 91.50-96.00



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[Anonymous]

> 450-485 473 100.00-110.00

> 505-525 516 90.00-93.00

> 550-560 555 91.50-96.00

Use the last weights and the third from last as a comparison.

Ave wt 555 ave price half way between 91.50 and 96 (93.75) That grosses out at 523.31 per calf.

Ave wt 473 ave price 1.05 grosses out at 496.65

The heavier calves did bring more, the lighter calves brought less total dollars. It has nothing to do with veal, those are calves fed specially for contract markets.

Times when feed is expensive heavier calves will bring more per pound than some lighter calves, but in times of cheap feed, lighter calves will always bring more per pound.

The way calves are priced is based on how long it will take to finish them, the forward contract prices (futures) for that estimated finish time, feed costs, yardage and interest costs. Buyers evaluate each calf or group of calves and discount for things like sickly calves, poor feeding calves, weather conditions and which way the market is going.

The buyers who have made a living at this for a number of years are some of the smartest cattle people in the industry, but there are always some idiots flying by the seat of their pants without a clue. They provide the lack of rhyme or reason for some calves bringing more or less than they should.

Jason

 

[Anonymous]

In fact they usually will sell for a higher amount if you calculate it on a per head basis rather than per pound. Also, in most cases there is a "middleman" that will precondition these calves before they go to the feedlot. They decide what is most profitable for their partucular niche and compete to fill an order for that exact criteria. Those market reports don't always reflect quality either. Perhaps a cattleman sold Fancy quality calves all in a certain weight range bringing a premium, while other average quality calves sold without the premium. Lakeland is rather small compared to Okeechobee. Okee is averaging a few thousand head per week right now. I've sold at both.

> Hello I am new to all of this so
> any help I can get would be
> appreciated. Below is a cattle
> sales report from the sales barn
> in lake land Florida dated
> 11/11/03. I understand the
> lightest weight caves going for
> veal and the value placed on veal.
> What I can't understand is the
> difference in price between in say
> a 450 lb. Calf and one that
> weights 550 lbs. This may seem
> naive but it seems to me that the
> bigger calf won't have to spend as
> much time on a feedlot so it
> should sell for more then the
> lighter calf. There is something
> here I am missing but its like the
> old saying I don't understand what
> I don't understand.

> Feeder Steers and Bulls Medium and
> Large 1-2

> Wt Range Avg. Wt Price Range

> 200-230 209 140.50-155.00

> 255-270 265 122.50-147.50

> 300-340 329 110.00-130.00

> 350-390 370 110.00-126.00

> 400-410 401 102.00-107.00

> 450-485 473 100.00-110.00

> 505-525 516 90.00-93.00

> 550-560 555 91.50-96.00