It sure looks like there is enough moisture to have wheat pasture, if the seed is in the ground. From all the stories, it sounds like wheat might be 50 to 60 percent planted. It is still up in the air whether any of that will be grazed. It’s been encouraging to see some irrigated fields with cattle already turned out. If all these wheat acres go unused, where will all the calves go? It might make for a very exciting spring market!

There is going to be some great opportunities coming up! Calves selling right now are selling with a great futures price, with some of them bringing less per pound than an eight hundred pounder! The last few years we have fought drought, high priced calves, low priced fats and now there is enough moisture to get pasture, calves are priced to make money, and the feeder market is as good as ever!

For the most part, it doesn’t seem like the United States is building up its’ cow herd. Drought has forced many cows to the packer in the last 10 years, and heifer numbers in the feed yards are certainly not any smaller! Our competitors in chicken and pork have increased their numbers to record levels, while our numbers are still down around where they were decades ago. Take advantage of these bred cows that are selling! A young bred cow with 10 calves in her will certainly pay off, even at the prices the calves are bringing right now! What’s wrong with $500 or $600 for a calf?

COMING NEXT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007!

Crown H Ranch 100 Blk/Bwf 1st calf heifers, bred to Pollard Farms
Low birthweight Angus bulls
200 Blk/Bwf 2nd & 3rd calf cows, bred to Pollard,
Sebranek, and Seyler Angus Bulls
20 2 & 3 yr old Angus bulls, some registered

Grauerholz Ranch 280 Angus sired steers & heifers, vacc. No implants
All one raising, 400 to 600 lbs

Upcoming Sales at Winter Livestock in Enid:

November 13 Special weaned and preconditioned calf sale
November 27 End of the month special cow sale
December 1 Annual Fall bred cow sale
December 11 End of the month, end of the year cow sale

It’s somewhat strange to not see people smiling from ear to ear when we get a good solid inch or two of rain in the fall. What wheat is planted will certainly get to grow, and places where it might have been dusty will now be primed for planting. It’s also interesting how the calf market hasn’t jumped yet with all the moisture. Excellent moisture, wheat coming out of the ground, the spring futures board above $110.00, and calves priced where they can be hedged, what more can we ask for?

It looks like we’re finally seeing a truly weaned calf bring a premium! Weaned calves at Enid Tuesday were bringing $130.00 to $145.00, with the same weight calves off the cow bringing from $115.00 to $125.00. There still seems to be some discrepancy between a steer and a heifer though. The same weaned heifers bringing from $110.00 to $120.00, almost $100.00 a head less than some of the steer mates!

It might be time to think about turning out some six or seven hundred pound cattle. From all the talk around, if anyone grazes wheat, it will be until February and what better way to have a feeder animal than starting with a big one! Not to mention the fact that some of those steers weight 700 pounds are only bringing thirty or forty dollars more per head than their little brothers! The cheapest gain in the world might be buying 100 lbs of calf for $30.00 rather than putting it on for forty to sixty cents a pound!

The overall market is still great! Yearling cattle bringing $105.00 to $120.00, with calves off the cow still bringing over $500.00 a head, and in many cases over $700.00! How can we complain about that kind of market? Fat cattle are doing their usually ring around the posy, with bids starting at $88.00 and ending up at $95.00. Butcher cows and bulls are holding fairly well, with bred cows starting to get higher as the weeks go on. Did we mention that there was two inches of rain in the wheat belt?

There will be lots of excitement happening in Enid over the next few months. Please call or visit if you have any questions!
www.winterlivestock.com, 580-796-2150

Next Tuesday, October 23 at Enid:

Grauerholz Ranch 280 Fancy, Angus sired strs/hfrs, 400-600lbs, vacc.
Marion Caldwell 50 Angus sired strs/hfrs, 350-500lbs
K & M Ranches 100 Angus/Charx strs/hfrs, 600-750 lbs, off grass

There will be thousands of calves showing up from here until December, and the big question is, where will they all be put? There seems to be a lot of discussion on whether to graze wheat or not this year, more so than in years past. With wheat on the board at all time highs, many folks just want to harvest a crop and not run any cattle. But whether wheat is worth $9.00 or $2.00, those cattle still represent some pretty good extra income!

Every day a calf is turned out on wheat in a normal year, they will gain somewhere between 1 and 3 pounds a day. Based on the futures, those cattle will be gaining somewhere between $1.12 and $3.36 per head every day! If a person only grazes them for 100 days, that’s over $100.00 a head you’re getting from those calves and you can still harvest a wheat crop!

At today’s prices, many of these calves, especially the heifers, can be hedged for a profit on the spring futures. It is not very often that you can sell an 800 pound yearling for the same price/cwt or more than a five hundred pound calf! Many of the calves weighing under six are costing less than $650 dollars a head, while the yearlings are bringing well over $800.00 and in some cases over $1000.00!

We have a lot of competition for our product nowadays. Pork and chicken production hit all time record highs recently, and for the most part are more efficient at converting high priced corn. However, our herd numbers are still not being built up. Heifer calf numbers are still fairly strong going to town, and heifers going to the feedyards have not dropped either. All these things still make a bred cow or heifer look like an extremely great commodity to own!

OPPORTUNITIES COMING UP AT WINTER LIVESTOCK IN ENID:

TWO SPECIAL CALF SALES: OCTOBER 16 & NOVEMBER 13, 2007!
Coming next week:

T Hill Ranch 50 Angus sired str/hfrs, weaned, vacc, 500-700 lbs
Staerkal Ranch 150 Ang/Limx strs/hfrs, weaned in June, on grass, 400-700lb
WK Cattle Co 100 Ang/Gelb/Charx hfrs, weaned, vacc, boostered, 5-600lbs

END OF THE MONTH COW SALE IS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007!
WWW.WINTERLIVESTOCK.COM

Thank You to all of our customers and friends!

It’s funny sometimes how folks react to a market. It seems like at the very highest levels there is more complaining than at the lowest times. When cattle are bringing $925.00, people seem to think they should have brought $950.00, but when the same cattle only bring $625.00, everyone is ok with it. We are selling cattle at some of the highest levels in history, grains are at or near all time highs, moisture is available to grow a crop, and the futures board clear until next May looks great!

Apparently, all the moisture this summer made the grass fairly washy. There are a lot of cattle showing up in thin condition compared to most years. Compared to those fancy calves coming off the cow with all their milk fat, these calf weight yearlings look plain and sickly, but those same thin cattle will do nothing but go forward! There are probably more good deals than you can shake a stick at this year with the compensatory gain in these summer grass cattle. Even today, it appears like the grass is still growing, and it certainly is staying green!

There are lots of opportunities coming up with the fall calf run! Many of the heifer calves are bringing $50.00 to $150.00 a head less than the steers! Many of the heavier calves are bringing the same or less per hundred than a yearlings weighing 250 pounds more! Not to mention the fact that a person could lay those calves off on the May board for over $110.00! It sure looks like a person ought to take advantage of these opportunities!

There still seems to be a lot of debate on whether to graze wheat pasture or not. It will not matter to the cattle if the wheat is worth $10.00 a bushel or $2.00! They will still gain the same, and the person who has them turned out will still get $100.00 to $200.00 an acre for grazing them! Think about grazing a bred cow! Some of the bred cows selling right now are bringing less than an 800 lb steer! If a guy could calve them out and get $500.00 for the calf that would certainly make for a cheap cow!

COMING TO WINTER LIVESTOCK IN ENID:

Lewis Ranch 200 Fancy, Angus sired heifers, replacement quality, 400-600lb
7-way blackleg, no implants, spring vacc.

TWO SPECIAL CALF SALES----OCTOBER 16 & NOVEMBER 13, 2007