The market is sure holding great considering there hasn’t been any rain yet. Calves are certainly lower than they were, but considering the amount of wheat around, they are selling very well. Higher corn prices are holding both calves and yearlings back, but everything would probably look a lot better if it would just rain!

It appears like there is plenty of demand for yearlings and cows. Conditions north of the Oklahoma border are good, and it looks like there will be an abundance of stalks and silage this year. Hay availability is still very limited, and the prices are showing it. It has always cost something to wean calves, but it sure will be a little more expensive this year.

There is a tremendous amount of opportunity in Oklahoma! We have a lot of calves getting weaned and thinned down. There will be a big number of weaned calves and bred cows selling around Enid this fall! Opportunity is knocking!

Come to the auction or watch it on the internet! Every week more and more cows and weaned calves are coming to town, of all weights and ages. There is opportunity right now, take advantage of it! We have to produce yearlings somehow for next spring!

SPECIAL BRED HEIFER AND COW SALE NEXT TUESDAY!

PAIRS START SELLING AT 11:00 AM!

WEIGH COWS AT 9:00 AM

Ron Bouzidan 180 Blk/Bwf cows, northern genetics, older, bred to

Stevensin Basin Blk & Red Angus bulls

Baker Ranch 40 Blk/Bwf hfrs, 1100 lbs, bred to Sebranek low birthwt

Angus bulls

Eck Farms 100 Eng/Exot cross cows, older, heavy bred

TG Ranch 135 Blk/Bwf/Red/Char cows, 4-8 yrs old, bred Ang/Lim,

Also a few pairs

Bulling Cattle 35 Maine/Angus x cows, 6-7 yrs old, bred to Angus

Sean Resal 100 Limo x cows, 5-10 yrs old, bred Ang/Lim, some pairs

Juan Valles 50 Brahma, Exot bulls, corn fed, some rodeo stock

There will be several smaller packages of bred hfrs, cows, and some bulls for the sale! Please call our office for any more consignments or information!

Thank You to all of our customers!

Weston Winter

It’s amazing how much anticipation fuels a market! Over and over again, calves are higher in anticipation of rain than when it’s actually falling. Feeders are the same way, with higher prices achieved when it looks good down the road, but not when the bird is in the hand. Wheat is somewhat similar, when the price goes up to $5.00, most everybody wants to wait until it gets to $6.00, but very few actually sell it for the $5.00!

It might be time to think about running heifers instead of steers. Many times you’ll see steer calves bring $10.00 to $20.00 more than the heifers. If you put a calculator to it, that’s up to $75.00 or $125.00 a head difference! When they get to weighing 1200 lbs, there’s no difference in the price. In today’s market, that’s certainly worth looking at! And don’t forget the value of a bred cow!

Where are the yearlings going to come from this spring? A very large number of cows have left the state of Oklahoma in the last year or two because of feed and water shortages. Their calves went right out of state also, and with wheat pasture non existent at this time, there are not many calves coming into the state. It appears that yearlings will be in very short supply in Oklahoma next spring.

Light weight steer calves up to $145.00, with heifers up to $130.00. Six weight calves $95.00 to $110.00. A few yearlings up to $109.00. Butcher cows mostly $40.00 to $45.00, with bred cows ranging from $400.00 to $900.00.

SPECIAL CALF SALE NEXT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2006!

Dettle Ranch 95 Angus hfrs, weaned 60 days, CHV, wire broke

Booster Vaccinated, no implants

Ruth Ranch 150 Ang/Lim/Charx strs/hfrs, weaned, vaccinated,

Knife cut, bunk broke

Morris Farms 50 Angusx strs/hfrs, no implants

Dean Grauerholz 85 Angus sired strs/hfrs, knife cut, vaccinated

Garman Ranch 90 Ang/Lim/Charx cows, 5-9 yrs old, bred to Ang/Char

There will be many more calves for the sale next week! Call our office for more information on the genetics and backgrounds of the calves.

SPECIAL END OF THE MONTH COW SALE, OCTOBER 31, 2006!

One thing we have to remember is that we are not the only ones in the world raising wheat. There has been talk of drought in other parts of the world that raise wheat or other grains, and whether we like it or not, that is going to have an affect on our market. Costs of gains in the feedyards continue to get higher, with gains costing above .60 in many yards.

There has been a lot of activity in the futures market in the last year or three. Many financial funds have been playing in the futures market, and have had a dramatic affect on it. It would be nice if the government would step in some time and make any one who buys or sells futures contracts to actually own livestock or grain!

Just a few more weeks and we will be into November! The temperatures will stabilize, what wheat is in the ground will look a lot better, and we’ll be heading into a higher market! Opportunities are still everywhere, we just have to recognize them!

We had 1200 cattle here in Enid this week, with mostly cows and calves in the run. Many calves coming to town early this year, with some of the calves weighing good, while others sure appear light. Most of the cows are in good shape, considering everything.

END OF THE MONTH COW SALE ON OCTOBER 31, 2006!

TWO SPECIAL CALF SALES:

OCTOBER 24 AND NOVEMBER 7

There will be quite a few weaned and pre-vaccinated calves for these two sales! There will also be a lot of high quality calves off the cow. At the end of the month there will be several hundred bred cows and heifers for sale! Please give us a call with your vaccinations and breeding so we can give your cattle maximum advertising!

Thank You to all of our buyers and sellers!

It’s amazing how steady and repetitive history is. Every single year during the month of October, everyone decides it’s time to wean calves, it’s hot and dusty during the day, and somewhat chilly at night, calves are bawling and getting sick from all the dust and calves go from $140.00 to $110.00. Every year nobody is happy with the moisture situation, the calf prices, the grain prices or just about anything to do with agriculture, and then all of a sudden in November, it just all changes, and by January you’d think there would never be another bad day!

Opportunity comes so many times in the shape of a challenge. A crisis has been defined as opportunity in disguise. Every single year, we have calves coming out of our ears, with no place to go at the right moment. This year is no exception, and as hardy as wheat is, we will have a home for them sometime in the next two months. But, what do we do with them until then?

Human nature is sure funny about some things. During the summers, we have all these video calves for October delivery being sold at astounding prices, but when those calves actually start arriving, the same people who paid $750.00 for a five hundred pound steer, wouldn’t give $500.00 dollars for the same calf, the same day at the auction! And what about those older bred cows? Old bred cows bringing from $400.00 to $700.00, and many times that’s not even as much as her calf brought the same day! Possession is the key if you want to make money in any market, and owning the factory for the same or less as the product is always a good deal!

We absolutely need moisture in Oklahoma! Visiting with the old timers, no one has seen it this dry since the thirties! There are many ponds and streams dried up, with a lot of cows and calves coming to town because of no feed or no water. There are still many fields unplanted, with several having to be replanted because of high winds and hot weather! It will rain someday, we just hope sooner than later!

SPECIAL COW SALE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2006!

TWO SPECIAL WEANED CALF SALES THIS FALL!

OCTOBER 24 AND NOVEMBER 7

NEXT WEEK AT WINTER LIVESTOCK IN ENID:

Greenman Ranch 50 Angx & Exot x heifers, bred to Parker Ranch Bulls

5 Angus bulls, 2-4 yrs old, low birth weight

Lowe Farms 20 Angusx cows, 3-6 yrs old, bred to Angus Bulls

Steve Rimms 45 Angus x strs/hfrs, 400 to 600 lbs, lst round of vacc.