If a person looks at the futures board, the cattle market looks very similar to the wheat market. The future months are at high levels while the closer months are lower. Folks that are experienced in that arena say that’s the sign of a bear market. Whether that’s true or not, it sure looks like very good prices for our feeder cattle this coming spring!

With the May board at or near $111.00, it looks like a person could graze out wheat for more money than harvesting it. If you put two head to the acre, and they gain 2 pounds a day for 100 days, that’s 400 pounds per acre and at $111.00 per acre a person could get $444.00 per acre with cattle. At $9.00 a bushel, and 40 bushels per acre, you could receive $320.00 per acre if you harvest the wheat. It might or might not be worth $120.00 to every one, but it’s sure something to think about!

The cow market has also come up in the last week; with butcher cows getting into the $50.00’s and bred cows finding a lot of demand. Good young cows bringing $1350, with bred heifers bringing $1200.00 and older cows ranging from $600.00 to $1000.00! Calves have also come up in the last week, with light weights for grass shooting up to $140.00 and heavier calves bringing up to $125.00! Maybe there won’t be another bad day!?

Spring time is just around the corner and if the moisture will come it looks like we’ll have an abundance of grass, wheat and hay for the spring and summer. There appears to be plenty of hay bales available for sale, while alfalfa is pretty hard to find! All that feed makes those bred cows look that much more attractive, especially considering the nations cow herd still isn’t getting any bigger. Two years time might pay off the cow, and then she’ll just be making money!

We might all consider that in the last 25 years feeders have been above $100.00 at the auctions only about half that time at best. The market is very good right now, maybe not as good as last year, but still very good all the same. Demand for beef is great, especially considering how cheap and abundant pork and chicken is. The economy has been holding together very well, even with the government dropping interest rates. It might not be exactly the way we want it, but how can anyone who lives in the U.S. complain?

Looking for a very nice run of wheat pasture cattle next week! There will be several strings of steers and heifers off wheat weighing 700 to 1000 lbs. Please call or visit www.cattleusa.com if you have any consignments or questions. We really appreciate your business!