Winter Livestock in Enid will be closed December 26, 2006 and January 2, 2007. Our next sale will be Tuesday, January 9, 2007! The office will be open during normal business hours during this time. Our internet will be available as always. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.

We had a very nice sale last week, selling 1350 cattle in a good market! Calves very active and steady, with stock cows also active but with buyers being a little more selective. Several loads of feeder steers from 800 to 900 lbs bringing $97.00 to $99.50.

Calves and stockers mostly $100.00 to $125.00, with bred cows and pairs bringing from $600.00 to $1000.00. Butcher cows ending the year between $30.00 and $45.00.

We had an excellent rain here in Oklahoma this week, with places receiving as much as three inches of good soaking rain! If the wheat price doesn’t stay so high, there will be some excellent spring grazing opportunities! The corn market is still a major factor in our cattle industry. Hay and feed are also playing a larger role than normal.

Once again, thank you all for your friendship and patronage! We enjoy all the work you give us and look forward to serving you in the future! During the holidays, please stop by and say hello, we would like to see you!!

Our next end of the month cow sale is Tuesday, January 30, 2007! We already have consigned 25 head of Sutphin Ranch 2 year old breeding bulls, along with 50 head of outstanding Angus/Brangus cross cows! Give us a call if you have any consignments or questions!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

WESTON WINTER

Wheat pasture is still excellent forage, even when it’s worth $5.00 a bushel! There doesn’t seem to be a better medicine or feed than good green wheat. However, that wheat is sorely missed this year in a lot of major grazing areas. Rainfall has been somewhat pitiful in most places, and non existent in others! Grazing pasture and feed supplies are going to be extremely limited this coming year, so it might be a year to think about grazing wheat instead of cutting it. There won’t be any more hay grown until next spring, and that’s some five or six months away!

The overall market seems to be coming back, and prices look good! Demand is great for just about all classes of cattle. Calves and yearlings are seeing a lot more demand, with bred cows still seeing good interest! Even though it’s lower than last year, the market is a whole lot higher than it has been for the last 100 years!

We are coming up to the end of the year, and there is a lot on our plates! No pasture, cattle prices off $15.00 from a year ago, feed costs up in the stratosphere and beef demand higher than it’s ever been! There is a lot to look forward to and many opportunities available if a person can take advantage of them.

Next week will be our last sale of 2006! No sale on December 26, 2006. The next sale will be on January 2, 2007! Please call ahead if you have any questions!

COMING NEXT TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2006:

Greenman Ranch 50 Ang/Beefmaster cross heifers, bred to Parker Ranch

Angus bulls, to calve in Feb.

Crown H Ranch 50 Blk/Bwf hfrs, AI & bull bred to Express Ranch Angus bulls, to calve Jan-Feb.

GT Farms 100 Blk/Bwf/Red/Charx cows, 3-8 yrs old, bred to blk bulls

Moser & Schultz 50 Blk/Bwf/Red cows, bred to blk limo bulls, 5-10 yrs

R Kirkpatrick 85 Fancy, AI sired strs/hfrs, no implants, weaned 75 days

Wire broke, bunk broke, CHV, booster vacc.

Cordell Cattle 100 Northern Angus steers, off wheat, 750 to 875 lbs

MC Farms 250 Ang/Lim/Exotx steers, 800 to 900 lbs

Sam Ruths 30 Blk/Red pairs, 3-8 yrs old

The stocker market has come up somewhat with the moisture we’ve had, calves off the cow are not being discounted quite as much from the weaned calves, and stock cows are seeing a little increase also. The feeder market is holding steady to strong, with true yearlings still almost completely unavailable.

Wheat pasture is still at a premium, with costs of gain running mostly above .35. Many pastures are renting out at forty plus cents on the gain, with some up to $1.00 a head a day! It sounds like a lot, but with the cost of feed so high, who knows? Gains in the feedyards are being estimated at $.85 a pound, which certainly doesn’t cheapen up the cattle very much.

Why are heifer calves discounted so much to a steer or bull? Many heifer calves are bringing $100.00 a head less than their brothers, yet when they get fat, there is no difference at all in the price! If the steers gain a half a pound more a day, in 100 days they will have gained 50 more pounds than the heifers. At 85 cents a pound, that’s an extra $42.50 a head more, so now the steers cost $142.50 more than the heifers, and you can’t breed a steer!

Feed and pasture are going to be extremely important factors for the next seven months. The major hay growing areas have only cut about half of their normal amounts, and demand for hay has probably been 10 times what it normally is. Hay prices will probably continue to get higher, with good quality hay being less available than ever. This is a year a person sure needs to figure out what is going to be the best use of hay and feed, and what kind of animal will use it the best.

CONSIGNED FOR NEXT TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006:

MC Cattle Co 130 Eng/Exotx steers, off wheat, 750 to 850 lbs

H & K Farms 60 Angus cross steers, off grass, 700 to 800 lbs

DECEMBER 19, 2006 IS THE LAST SALE OF THE YEAR!

THIS WILL BE OUR END OF THE MONTH COW SALE ALSO!

Please call ahead with your consignments so we can advertise them for you!

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS!

Weston Winter