Market Report Archives April 2006
Posted: Thursday, April 27, 2006
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Enid, OK: Market Report for April 25, 2006
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It’s been quite a ride the last week or so! The on feed report that came out last week did not look friendly at all. When Monday came around, the futures board went down hard and feeder cattle were quoted $4.00 to $8.00 lower. Then Tuesday comes and the futures board goes back up, and all of a sudden, feeder cattle are right back where they started!
It’s either exciting or saddening to watch the cattle market operate. It makes no sense whatsoever that an 850lb steer is worth $85.00 one day and $92.00 the next day. That’s almost as bad as the fat cattle market, it just doesn’t cost as much!
Maybe we are at the turning point finally! When nobody knows which way to go, then it’s possibly going to go the other direction. Another thing to consider is the fact there might not be any available cattle after the next 30 days. Pond water is in extremely short supply, graze out pastures are done with, and the grass is just not quite there yet in a large area. We’re seeing larger numbers of cattle coming to town, with little relief in sight!
It’s interesting to watch our industry. When calves were bringing near $800.00 a head, there weren’t enough cattle to satisfy everyone’s appetite, but when they’re bringing $550.00 a head you can’t find anybody to take one. The same thing happens with feeder cattle and stock cows, when the prices get high everybody wants to bid on one, but when it turns south, nobody does.
There seems to be a lot more opportunities in buying a calf for five or six hundred dollars or a bred cow for the same money, than there are in cattle costing two or three hundred dollars more! Feed and water are always an issue, but sometimes opportunity only knocks once
Considering everything,-water, feed, captive supply, political horse hockey, and lack of backbone on the enforcement side, we have a pretty good market. It was only ten years ago that calves brought as little as $60.00 when corn got to $6.00 a bushel. Calves are still bringing over $100.00, which sure seems like a great price in comparison!
There should be a big number of cattle moving in the next week. We will have an outstanding selection of Angus cross yearlings for next week’s sale! We will be starting earlier for the next few weeks to accommodate all of our customers! Please call ahead with your consignments!
Thank You,
Weston Winter
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Posted: Thursday, April 20, 2006
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Enid, OK: Market Report For April 18, 2006
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How much longer can the wheat last? Rainfall has been extremely minimal during April, not to mention the record high temperatures and high winds. Wheat and rye pasture that looked like it would last until June now needs cattle taken off.
Considering the moisture situation, the stocker market has held in very well. Light calves still bringing up to $145.00, with stockers up to $120.00. Feeder cattle have come up somewhat in the last couple of weeks, with eight weight steers bringing around $100.00. There is still too wide a difference between the light and heavy weight feeders, sometimes as much as $12.00/cwt! Some things just don’t make much sense!
The fat cattle market is a very interesting thing. A few years ago an eight weight steer might get fed for 120 days and the pen would grade 60% choice or better. Now, they get fed 140 days, and our grading percentage is less than 53% choice! How does that happen?
If we are feeding cattle at a younger age, they won’t get as fat as when they are a little older. We used to have cattle going into the feedlots when they were 15 to 20 months old, now the cattle are being pushed to finish at 14 months of age! Younger cattle just won’t grade like older ones. Has anybody in the cattle feeding area bought beef at a large chain food store lately? It’s almost impossible to find choice beef!
If we all worked for the good of the industry, rather than trying to please the Japanese, we might all be better off! At the peak of their buying, the Japanese market accounted for only 5% of our total production. Here’s something to think about, feedyards have to give up 4% of their production with the stroke of a pen!
SPECIAL MONTHLY COW SALE NEXT TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2006!
D & L Ranches 200 Blk/Bwf/Red/Rwf cows, 5-10 yrs old, w/Angusx calves
Simpson Ranch 25 Fancy, Blk/Bwf pairs, 3-5 yrs old, Angus sired calves
Edwards Ranch 15 Blk/Bwf 1st calf pairs, Angus sired calves
1 Sutphin Ranch Angus heifer bull, 64lb birthweight
Sebranek Cattle 6 Purebred, coming 2 yr old Brangus bulls
John Regier 10 Blk/Red pairs, 3-5 yrs old
T & G Farms 100 Eng/Exot x cows, 3-10 yrs old, bred to blk bulls,
Spring and fall calvers
Larry Miller 180 Colorado origin steers, off wheat, 850-950 lbs
Tom Hill 100 Angus sired steers, off wheat, 800-900 lbs
Sonny Ralph 100 Ang/Limx steers, off wheat, 750-850 lbs
G & B Cattle Co 45 Fancy, Angus sired strs/hfrs, 400-600 lbs, vaccinated
Thank You to all of our sellers and buyers!
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Posted: Thursday, April 6, 2006
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Enid, OK: Market Report for April 4, 2006
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This market we’re in right now is interesting, to say the least. The futures board has come down $15.00 to $20.00 off of its highs, and approaching record making declines. We are producing more beef with fewer cattle than we ever have in history, and our demand has been going up. Quite a scenario!
It appears like everyone wanted to sell fat cattle during the month of April! Calves in the fall were put directly on feed, big cattle in January were bought to come out in April, and the drought forced a lot of cattle off wheat early, which keeps the pens full and puts more cattle in the April/May market. Not to mention the fact that cattle have gained tremendously well this year! It will be interesting, if not upsetting, to see how many fat cattle come out of the feedyards in the next 60 days!
To add insult to injury, big feeder cattle are being faced with tremendous discounts! Light yearlings suitable for grass have been bringing up to $780.00 a head, while some 900-1000 lb feeders are barely bringing $825.00! That doesn’t leave much room for a grazing bill! It sure makes those high priced northern calves look even higher priced! This might be one year that contracting in the fall was a good idea, but whoever is receiving those cattle will be thinking quite differently next year!
We seem to be at a spot in the market where things can change. The futures board has come down enough that maybe it will work its way up a little bit. Feeder cattle have come down close to where they were several years ago, and fat cattle are also in that price range. One bright spot is that we have received rain in places that needed it, and by June or July, there may not be enough feeder cattle to go around!
We should be seeing more cattle coming off of rye and wheat pasture in the next 30 days. We will also have another excellent pair and bred cow sale on the last Tuesday of this month! Give us a call or send us an email to find out about the great selection of cattle coming this month! Don’t forget to watch the weekly sales, live, on www.cattleusa.com!
Here in Enid this week, we had a lighter run, but excellent demand! Calves selling for $115.00 to $140.00, with feeder steers up to $104.25! Bred cows and pairs bringing from $750.00 to $1200.00. Butcher cows mostly bringing $43.00 to $50.00, with bulls from $55.00 to $67.00.
Consigned for Tuesday, April 25, 2006:
Nuss Ranch 200 Blk/Bwf pairs, 3 to 8 years old, running with blk bulls!
Thank you to everyone for all your business!
We appreciate it!
Weston Winter
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