On the other side of the coin, why are heifers being discounted so much? Heifer calves are being sold from $5.00 to $20.00 behind their brothers. Some seven weight steers bringing over $120.00, while at the same time, the same quality heifers might just bring $112.00. But when the paper work is done, a fat heifer will bring the same money as a steer, if not a little more in the live section.

There still seems to be plenty of heifers being offered for sale, and quite a few going on feed, so how is the cow herd being built up? Maybe the great big herds are holding back more cattle, or maybe every one is just not telling the reporters or the government what they’re really doing! In Oklahoma, it sure looks like there is not near as many cows as a few years ago, or cattle for that matter. But just drive through the grasslands of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and there seems to be cows everywhere!

There is a lot of talk and worry about the financial markets in the world. One thing is for certain, the talk is about extremely large amounts of money. There are stories about billion dollar deals, where a few years ago, millions was a lot of money! How much greed is there in the world today? There was a story in a magazine about someone saying a yearly salary of $70 million dollars was not enough! How can that not be enough? Sports players whining about their enormous salaries, company executives getting millions in bonuses, and yet our president gets paid a paltry sum compared to some of these folks. When will reality step in?

The fall run will soon be upon us and it looks like it will be a very nice market for the rancher. At the moment, all the pieces seem to be falling in place for a great wheat pasture year. Across the country, tractors are going non stop trying to get ready, while the corn harvest will be happening before we know it! Opportunity is knocking!

COMING EVENTS AT WINTER LIVESTOCK:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 INTERNET VIDEO AUCTION
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 SPECIAL WEANED CALF SALE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 ABBI BREEDING COW SALE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 END OF THE MONTH COW SALE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 BAKER BUCKING STOCK COW SALE

The yearling market continues to stay strong with most of the feeder cattle bringing well over $100.00. The few calves that are selling right now are not as high as they have been, with local attendance in the auctions pretty light. There are a few more people showing up every week, and the calf market should reflect that as we get closer to wheat pasture. Bred cows and pairs are very hard to come by, but sure seem to be a good commodity to own!

There have certainly been a lot of changes in the cattle industry in the last several years. Just as the banking, oil, and other industries have done, many entities in the cattle sector have increased in size and keep getting bought up by larger and larger companies. At one time it took quite a few people and companies to feed 100,000 cattle, now there are several companies that feed three or four times that amount. This doesn’t even include the number of cattle that the packers own that are on feed. For better or worse, it’s getting tougher and tougher for individual feeders to compete.

Where is our world going? Everywhere you look, except in the rural communities, people are building huge houses and even larger malls and stores. Where there used to be pastures with herds of cows and calves on it, now you see whole new neighbor hoods or shopping malls. And we’re not talking new homes for $100,000, but more like $500,000 plus kind of homes! Where is all the money coming from?

On the other side of the coin, we see many of our rural communities getting smaller, with lots of them having to combine schools just to stay alive. If this trend continues, who is going to teach our kids or grandkids how to farm or how to work? The same values taught in the big city schools are not always the same. And no matter how big the cities get, somebody has to grow the food to feed them.

SPECIAL END OF THE MONTH COW SALE NEXT TUESDAY, AUGUST 28

Rodney Semrad 15 Fancy, Angus heifers and cows, out of Angus/Saler cross
Cows and Angus bulls, fall calvers
Four C Ranch 65 Angus cows, 6-10 yrs old, bred to Angus bulls
Hawes Farms 35 Angusx cows, 3-6 yrs old, bred Ang/Herf bulls
SRT Cattle Co 150 Ang/Char/Limx strs/hfrs, off grass, gtd open, 700-850 lbs

Thanks to all of our buyers and sellers!

What is opportunity cost? It used to be taught in college economics courses, but it’s one of those things that don’t seem to stick. How much has it cost the wheat farmer in the last several not to run wheat cattle? In a normal year, just grazing cattle from November to March will put on around 200 lbs of gain. At today’s prices, that’s well over $200.00 a head a person is pulling off the wheat. If you run one head to two acres, that’s $100.00 an acre a person is getting from the wheat without harvesting it!

Supposedly, grazing cattle will reduce the harvest by somewhere between two and ten acres, depending on where you are. If grazing really does cut down the yield by 10 acres, then a person would have to produce an extra 20 acres to make up for that $100.00 they didn’t get from grazing cattle, and that’s just at $5.00 a bushel! If you graze the wheat out until May, there might be even more money to be made, and it sure doesn’t cost $25.00 an acre to graze it out!

The opportunities are as plentiful as someone’s imagination. Bred cows and pairs are probably still the best thing going in the cattle industry. A fancy bred heifer might cost $1400.00, but she might produce 10 calves in her life worth over $5000.00! Another nice thing about cows and calves is they will eat wheat too!

What about turning out a yearling? There isn’t any rule that says a calf has to weigh 475 lbs in order to turn them out. A yearling will eat more, but there is also less sickness, and probably more gain. The only difference is whether you sell them in January or March! Two hundred pounds of gain is two hundred pounds of gain, whether it’s from a 300 lb calf or a 700 lb yearling, and with the market now and on the futures board somewhere around $115.00, that’s $230.00 a head in your pocket! And that doesn’t even include the harvest!

The U.S. cow herd numbers have NOT been building up in the last several years. Heifer numbers in the feed yards is higher than it was a month ago, and drought has forced up to 20% more cows into the packing plants. The opportunity is here! Running cows and calves, producing yearlings, using wheat to put on weight are all very real opportunities to make money. Demand for beef is excellent, there are more people in the world every day to eat beef, and it’s great to eat besides! What more can we ask for?

Every day it’s easier and easier to get cattle. The internet lets you buy cattle from just about anywhere in the nation, at almost any weight or age you want, and you can either buy them live through the auctions, or even contract them for future delivery! Go to WWW.CATTLEUSA.COM to see all the opportunities available to you!

Thank You for your time,

Weston Winter

The crowds around have been a little shy lately, with everyone trying to get ready to plant wheat, or as the case may be, trying to finish harvest. There seems to be several fields that are crusted over with the heavy rains recently, and the big discs are just barely getting in the ground. One thing for sure, even with all the moisture in the air and all the recent rain, there is sure a lot of dust flying everywhere!

The cattle market has certainly been hot lately. Many yearlings, both steers and heifers, are bringing between $110.00 and $120.00. Even the heavy yearlings, weighing 900 plus pounds are bringing over $100.00! It sure looks like a sellers market!

The cattle coming through the auctions are not carrying quite the flesh they normally do this time of year. Many cattle have a lot of compensatory gain in them, especially where the grass has stayed green and washy all summer. The last week has changed that, and with the grass curing, cattle should really pack it on in the next few weeks.

Cows and calves have faired pretty well this summer. After having drought for the last several years, many of these calves look a lot bigger than last year, and definitely in better flesh! It’s becoming harder and harder to find calves under 500 lbs in the fall, and this year looks like it might be even harder! It’s nice to wean a big calf, and that’s good for this year’s pocket, but is it good for the industry? How many folks like to turn out a 650 lb calf?

That will certainly be something to think about in the years to come. The so-called experts and industry leaders think calves need to be in and out of the feedyards before they are 16 months old, but where will the calves come from? Our herd numbers are not building up, and the younger they go through the packing plant, the more our head count is reduced. It still takes Mother Nature over nine months to produce a calf!

There will be lots of opportunities coming up in the next month or two. Lots of calves are being offered for sale, with their mothers not far behind. Relatively speaking, a person can spend $1000.00 for a feeding steer, or $1000.00 for a young bred cow. Which one will return you the most in the next five years?

VIDEO SALE NEXT TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, AT 9:00 AM!
FEATURING SEVERAL THOUSAND CALVES, YEARLINGS, BRED HFRS

WATCH IT ON WWW.CATTLEUSA.COM!

It’s kind of amazing that a 900 lb steer, going to the feedlot, is worth almost as much as a young pair. It would sure seem that a 3 year old pair would have a lot more value than a yearling. That cow might produce nine or ten of those yearlings in her lifetime, while that yearling in today’s world looks like he’ll lose money the one and only chance he gets!

It’s possible that wheat harvest is finally over, but there seems to be a few combines still running. Most of the wheat has either been cut or turned under, and there are plenty of tractors in the fields getting ready for the next crop. Corn seems to be planted everywhere, and with the rains everyone has received lately, it sure looks like the crop is made. If that holds true, then corn prices may reflect that, and the cost of gain may get much more favorable.

Where does all the money come from? It seems like everywhere you look there are new houses being built, land being sold for unbelievable prices, and new cars going down the road all the time with $3.00 plus gasoline in their engines. The stock market has dropped over 1000 points, with several big players in the money and real estate markets going under. Isn’t it amazing what kind of country we live in!

The fall calf run is not very far away. If we continue to get moisture, it looks like there might be an excellent chance of wheat pasture! Most everywhere you look, except maybe in the southeast and southwest, there are plenty of hay bales lying around, and certainly plenty of grass! Feed for this coming winter appears to be plentiful, and the stage is being set!

Our next video sale will be on Tuesday, August 14, 2007. There will be several thousand high quality cattle being offered for sale. There are several yearlings selling at the auctions also, which a person can see live on the internet! What few bred cows are available certainly look like the way to go. You still have to have the cow and bull to make a calf! Take advantage of all these opportunities!

Come to Winter Livestock and visit! The stockyards café is open every Tuesday, and cowboy church is every Thursday at 7:00pm! You can also watch over 35 cattle auctions, live, on the internet at www.cattleusa.com!

Thank You for all your business,