It’s quite a market we have in the cattle business! Corn at $6.00 a bushel, wheat near $10.00, fat cattle in the $80.00’s, gas near $4.00 a gallon, fertilizer twice as high, land bringing over $1000.00 an acre, interest worth only 4%, and the dollar worth less than the rest of the world’s money! It’s amazing to see feeders still bringing either side of $100.00 and calves still bringing over $500.00 a head! Who said it had to be easy?
Maybe American agriculture will catch up with the rest of the world’s industries, and maybe not. It’s pretty hard to spend twice to four times as much for inputs and still have a smile on your face. There sure seems to be a lot of money in a few people’s hands nowadays. People in the oil business are buying up property like there’s no tomorrow, and hunting seems to be more important than producing food!
What is a recession? Looking around at all the unnecessary things being bought, people going out to dinner every night, and big gas guzzling cars still being sold, it sure seems like no one knows or fears a recession. If no one had a credit card to buy things, what kind of economy would we have then? It’s a proven fact that money does not grow on trees, so with all the things pointing the way they do, how do people spend money like they do?
In the face of $90.00 to $110.00 costs of gain, feeders actually worked higher in places this week. Eight weight steers are bringing back up near a dollar, with big feeder cattle bringing in the $90.00’s. Calves were a little tougher to sell, especially calves right off the cow, but still, $100.00 to $130.00 a cwt is a great price! The last time we had $6.00 corn, around 1996, calves were bringing in the $40.00’s and $50.00’s!
However unfair it may seem, central and eastern Oklahoma has had tremendous moisture over the last few months! It’s been kind of spotty, but it’s almost unbelievable how green the grass is and how big the wheat has gotten right around Enid. Harvest looks like a bin buster if nothing too bad happens, and it sure looks like everyone did a fantastic job of farming this year!
A person still has to raise a calf or buy a calf in order to sell a yearling. Opportunities are all around, especially with the abundant hay bales and moisture in certain areas. Many cattle are coming off pasture fairly green, and there sure might be some compensatory gain in them! Buy the value, not the pretty face.
COMING APRIL 29, 2008 IN ENID:
Edwards Ranch 250 Home raised, Ang/Char/Limx strs/hfrs, off rye, 500-700lbs
Davis Ranch 50 Home raised, Char sired strs/hfrs, dry wintered, 500-600lbs
ORS Cattle Co. 130 Angus sired strs, off wheat, 850-950 lbs
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS!
Weston Winter
