Well 2008 is definitely a different year than 2007! Cattle prices have changed dramatically in the last month or so, with the futures board dropping several dollars on the cattle side and grains going up about every day. Butcher cows remain strong while bred cows a not very well tested.
There continues to be several factors affecting the cattle market, the biggest of them being the cost of gain. With the weather in the feedlot areas staying wet and muddy, cattle are not gaining at all, in fact, carcass weights have dropped about twenty pounds in the last month! The cost of gain is fast approaching $1.00 a pound, and gas prices are certainly not helping.
With most everyone wanting to cut a wheat crop, the demand for wheat grazing is not anywhere near what it would normally be and outlets for lower priced stockers and feeders is limited. There appears to be plenty of feed in the country, although it is limited to a large number of hay bales, and a whole lot of unused wheat pasture! The future still looks bright on the commodity boards, with August feeders still well above $100.00. The cost of gain, though, is going to severely limit some things. It looks like everything is going to be like the dollar store, everything’s $100.00!
There will be some interesting opportunities this year. If a person doesn’t have to cut wheat, what’s wrong with buying a 700 pound steer to graze wheat? If you put two to the acre and they gain 200 pounds, that’s 400 pounds per acre, and at $100.00/cwt, that’s $400.00 per acre! Wheat at $10.00 a bushel, with a 30 bushel yield is approximately $300.00 per acre, less all the inputs. Which way is worth more? One nice thing about 2008 is that it appears like you can lock in a decent price right now for later delivery on either cattle or crops.
It’s not easy to swallow these new prices, especially when we’ve been spoiled with high prices for the last three or four years. However, it’s certainly nice to see there are plenty of takers for cattle at these levels. It’s usually better to sell a lot of a thing at a lower price than a little of a thing at a high price, supply and demand work a lot better that way!
1560 cattle sold in Enid this week. 400 to 500 lb steers up to $120.00, with 500 to 600 lb steers bringing $100.00 to $110.00. Feeder steers all bringing from $94.00 to $104.00. Heifers bringing about $95.00 give or take, whether they weigh 500 or 900 lbs. Butcher cows from $35.00 to $45.00, and bulls up to $64.00. A few bred cows bringing up to $950.00.
Our next end of the month cow sale is Tuesday, January 29, 2008!
300 Blk/Bwf bred cows, 3-6 yrs old, bred to Angus bulls
75 Blk/Bwf bred hfrs, bred to Pollard Farms Angus bulls
12 Pollard Farms Angus bulls, low birth weight heifer bulls, 2 years old
