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March 2025 03/05/25 9:47:00 AM
3-26-25
We missed most of the showers or flurries the past week. We had just a tenth or so over the weekend, and that really didn’t amount to much. It has been below freezing a couple of mornings, but has warmed up pretty nice most afternoons. We continue to be windy but it hasn’t been as bad the past 2 days. The forecast looks like a couple slight chances of showers over the next seven days and mild temperatures as we get to the end of March.
Saturday’s sale had large numbers of hogs, sheep and goats and 325 head of cattle. The hog sale had had the most we have seen all winter long with nearly 400 head! Fat hogs sold at $0.58to $0.65 with a couple locker hogs at $0.68. Sows sold from $0.60 to $0.65 for over 500lb sows and lighter sows at $0.50 to $0.60 if they had some flesh on them. Light boars were mostly $0.33 to $0.35 and big boars were at $0.05 to $0.08 per pound. Feeder pigs sold as high with $90.00 on some 49lb pigs and $120.00 on some 60lb pigs. Even after the 4-H buyers were filled up, pigs were still over a dollar per pound this week. The sheep and goat sale showed 700 head through the ring. The 50lb lambs sold at $22.86 to $3.30 per pound, 70lb to 80lb lambs also haad the better quality lambs bringing $3.00 to $3.15. Ewes exposed to lamb brought $225.00 per head. Ewes by the pound were generally $1.00 to $1.20. Bottle lambs sold from $50.00 to $80.00 per head.
Kid goats from 40lb to 65lb sold for $3.50 to $4.10 per pound. Nannies topped at $1.55 with the bulk of them bringing $1.00 to $1.30. Big billies were $1.90 to $2.50 per pound. Bottle goats were mostly $50.00 to $100.00. There was a very large crowd in town for the morning sale!
The outside sale had a very big active crowd on small bales, posts and miscellaneous items and the big bale sale had a light and timid crowd! Small squares of hay sold for $2.50 to $6.00. Small bale of straw brought $3.00 to $4.00 per bale. The big bales topped at $55.00, but most of the market was $25.00 to $40.00. Wet wrapped rye sold for $20.00 and alfalfa or mixed grass wet wrapped hay sold for $20.00 to $30.00. Big squares were steady at $30.00 to $50.00 and big round straw bales were $20.00 to $25.00.
The hedge post market was good, but quality was as good as you can find! The top 10ft straight line posts brought $95.00 per post. The best 8ft line posts were $40.00 to $45.00. Those outstanding posts have always had very good value when offered at the auction! There were lots of miscellaneous items out front again and it made for a good sale out there!
The cattle sale had baby beef calves selling at $600.00 to $850.00 per head. Calves that did not weight 300lb and sold by the head brought from $1450.00 to $1625.00 per head. A handful of 3rd period cows sold at $3000 to $3300 and a sprinkle of pairs sold at $3000 to $3700. The weigh cow market was sure steady with the higher yielding cows selling at $1.45 to $1.55. Heiferettes and feeder cows were solid at $1.75 to $2.15 per pound. The bull market was $1.35 on the poor unhealthy end, up to $1.73 on the good kind. As numbers shrink this spring this market will continue to be strong!
Some guys are putting in some oats and seedings. I have been seeing lots of fertilizer and anhydrous being applied. I bet there will be some corn and beans planted in this area next week.
The boys worked the first set of pairs at Luke’s yesterday. We have more to get through next week and Ted is hoping to wean the fall calves this afternoon. As we get to the first of April we get chute work, almost every day, as we set up heifers and cows for AI and get everything moved out to summer pastures. I can’t wait for that!
This Saturday will feature some fancy 1st calf heifer pairs, some April/May calvers and fancy young fall bred cows. There will be also be a couple of breeding bulls!
Have a dandy week!
3-19-25
The weather here has sure been up and down this week. We have sure had some nice, warm pretty days. The wind blew through here pretty nasty a couple of days, then got cold. We missed all the snow and really didn’t get much rain out of the storm, maybe a tenth. The forecast calls for some wind and colder temperatures through tonight, then back up to 50 degrees tomorrow. There is a chance of rain towards the weekend. March has been darn nice for what March can be here. It’s hard to believe we are 2/3 through the month already!
Saturday was a nice day for a sale and a large crowd was on hand. The hog sale had the fat hog market mostly $63.00 to $70.00. The sows topped at $73.00. The acting was in the colored feeder pigs this week! A number of 4-H buyers were buying small packages of pigs and spent from $130.00 to $170.00 per head on pigs that were from 60lbs to 80lbs. A very nice set of 110lb Berkshire pigs from Ryan Westercamp went to 4 separate buyers and they all brought over $100.00 per head! It’s sure good to see the westercamp name back to the sale with a fancy set of pigs!
The sheep and goat market was active again with cull ewes dropping off a little. The 40lb to 50lb lambs sold mostly $3.40 to $3.50 a pound. 60lb to 80lb lambs were $2.90 to $3.40. Lambs over 100lb brought $2.10 to $2.425. Cull ewes sold at $0.85 to $110.00 and ewes returning home to lamb brought $250.00 per head.
The goat market still had some 50lb kids up to $4.05 but more of them sold at $3.50 to $3.90. Cull nannies ranged from $1.00 to $1.45. A few bred nannies sold at $235.00 per head.
The hay sale had a few less small squares. The market was at $2.00 to just a few bringing $6.00 with the majority of them bringing $3.00 to $4.50. Straw sold at $3.00 to $4.00. Big round bales of wet rye sold at only $10.00. High moisture alfalfa and grass high moisture hay sold at $20.00 to $30.00. Grass round bales of dry hay sold at $25.00 to $45.00 with the clean nicer looking bales setting higher value. Stra and cornstalk rounds brought $20.00 to $35.00. Big squares of hay and only $30.00 to $50.00. It looks like there is still a good opportunity to put away some hay for the next year at these prices.
Hedge post sold up to $47.00 for some 8ft lines that were really nice. Average looking lines sold at $10.00 to $25.00. Corners sold up to $50.00 but more were $25.00 to $35.00 and poor quality were under $10.00. There were several miscellaneous items and a large crowd, that kept the crew busy until after 12pm this week.
The cattle sale had baby calves selling at $700.00 to $900.00 for beef calves and dairy calves at $600 to $800. The feeder cattle market continues to be very active for all weights and classes. Warm weather and strong fed cattle prices have encouraged buyers to keep head counts in the pens! Mostly heavier yearling type cattle in the run. 610lb steers brought $3.42, 651lb rwf steers brought $3.17, 730lb bwf steers at $3.11 and 50 head of bwf steers weighing 878lb at $281.25. Black heifers weighing 605lb brought $3.09, 736lb blk heifers brought $2.72 and some 740lb red xbred heifers sold at $274.75.
The weigh cow market was very solid with top cows at $1.50 to $1.60 and bulls topped at $1.75. A good run of weigh up cows with 5 or 6 very active buyers in the cow market, makes for a good market.
Today we are putting the first group of Hereford heifers through the chute to start their AI protocol. From now until the middle of May the chute work will remain very steady as we get everything AI bred and turned out to green grass! They rye has really changed the past week and even some grass starting to change!
It will be a bigger sheep and goat sale this Saturday with some nice quality lambs, bred ewes and 60lb lambs already on the books. It’s a special cow and pair sale coming March 29th to close out March!
Have a dandy week!
3-11-25
Boy, spring really arrived here this week! We hit 45 degrees Saturday, 64 degrees Sunday and 73 degrees Monday! That’s a big change in a week from blowing snow 20 degrees last Tuesday! Watch those babies close for respiratory problems! Those babies love the warm sunshine but better check them close and not assume they are well and good as the weather jumps up and down. The forecast looks good until Friday, when we may get into a rain event and possibly some storms into Saturday. The forecast looks like we are safe to take the tank heaters out with lows barely under freezing for the next 10 days!
Saturday’s sale had a really big crowd around here! The hog sale was very lively again this week, with no feeder pigs. The fat hogs sold at $0.75 to $0.85 for locker hogs, but the true fat hog market was at $0.64 to $0.65. The sows sold from $0.70 to $0.75 and a couple over 500lbs and $0.60 to $0.65 under.
The sheep and goat market was sure a good one on almost 500 head. The bottle lambs sold for $25.00 to $65.00 per head and bottle goats sold at $10.00 to #85.00 on a couple boer xbred kids. The 50lb to 60lb meat type kids sold from $4.60 to $4.75 per pound. The 70lb to 90lb kids sold at $2.80 to $3.25. Nannies sold from $1.20 to $1.60 per pound.
The lambs weighing 60lb to 80lb brought $3.35 to $3.75. Heavier lambs brought $2.40 to $2.75. The fat lambs were pretty scare this week with a package at $2.35. Cull ewes ranged from $0.90 to $1.30 per pound. Bucks were in the same range as the ewes.
The outside sale had a nice run of small squares selling higher at $5.00 to $7.00 on the nicer quality and $2.00 to $5.00 on light bales and plain quality. The big bales of hay were steady at $35.00 to $50.00 on the better hay and $20.00 to $35.00 on rougher hay, string tied and smaller bales. The top second cutting alfalfa bales at $65.00. Big square bales ranged from $30.00 on grass to $65.00 on nicer alfalfa. Cornstalks brought $30.00 to $37.00. The straw round bales brought $20.00 to $35.00. Buyers are still mostly local with some loads shipping out up to 100 miles. Several buyers are just purchasing hay to feed right away.
The hedge post market was very steady with better lines at $20.00 to $25.00 and better corners at $35.00 to $50.00. Derek and Colby had a big run of miscellaneous items to work through and a big crowd with them all the way through.
The cattle sale had baby beef calves at $500.00 to $850.00 and dairy calves at $450.00 to $650.00. Several bred cows and a few bred heifers were in for the sale this week. The black heifers bred in the 3rd period were solid at $3250.00 to $3400.00. The nicer 3rd period middle-aged cows were $3000 to $3400.
Cows from 6-8 years old due in the fall were $2400 to $2850. The weigh cow market was dang sure strong with the better cows selling at $1.42 to $1.60. Heiferettes and turnout cows brought at $2.25 top! Cows are worth an awful good check this spring. The unproductive girls and older cows should really be looked at and evaluated to make sure they justify a spot in your pasture. Make sure what your grazing, will return a profit that fits your goals over the next year or cash them in and replace them with ones that will.
As we march on towards the coming summer the popular question I get is, “How long will this market be good?”. Things that enter into that question is, are we really at a high price currently? My answer is, sure, we are higher than we have been, but I am still not convinced that we are at the high. Another question is “How long will it take to replace the cow herd? My answer to that question is, Generational interval on cattle is obviously in our favor. We can’t replace the cow herd in 2-3 years. It will take higher prices for fats and feeders to encourage folks to build cow numbers! Dairy cow herds are low and with milk prices encouraging more production. A higher number of Holstein cows will be getting bred back to Holstein bulls to replace the dairy herd. Those Holstein cows have been raising beef cross calves the past 3 to 5 years. That amount of beef production will need to be compensated for, as we move forward. My answer continues to be the cattle market will stay good for several years into the future. Consumers love beef and are obviously focused on feeding their families a very high quality and satisfying protein source!
We are having a special feeder cattle sale this coming Saturday. Come take a look!
Have a dandy week!
3-4-25
The first week of march arrives with a big rain! We were cold last week but warmed up over the weekend to 63 degrees Sunday! The rain will make it sloppy for a while, but hopefully it will soak in and not run off too much. Sounds like it may rain again tomorrow and might snow northwest of here some. By the weekend we may be back up to 70 degrees! That’s what makes March go by a little easier! We had fertilizer spread on the pasture and hay ground the past few days, so it should do some good with the rain!
Saturday had a big run of everything. The hog sale had almost 400 head. The sows were off but still had an $0.80 top on a 600lb fat sow. The bulk of the 400lb sows were from $0.60 to $0.70. The fat hogs sold from $0.55 to $0.65 this week. The big boars were at $0.18 to $0.20. Feeder pigs were higher selling from $0.60 to $0.65 per head for pigs over 50lbs.
The sheep and goat market was higher also. The 50lb to 70lb lambs sold from $3.40 to $3.60 per pound a few weighing up around 100lbs at $2.10 to $2.35 a pound. Ewes sold from $1.10 to $1.45 per pound. Bottle lambs were $45.00 to $65.00 per head.
The bottle kids goats sold at $5.00 to $20.00 on dairy and $35.00 to $85.00 on boer kids. The 40lb to 60lb kids sold from $3.70 to $4.25. nannies sold from $1.00 to $1.40 per pound. One nice young doe with a newborn nanny kid sold at $160.00 counting noses. A very big crowd here for the morning sale!
The outside sale had a large run of hay. The small squares sold from $2.00 to $6.50. The straw bales sold for $2.50 to $4.00. The hedge posts were in good demand with lines at $5.00 to $25.00 and corners at $15.00 to $55.00. The big round bales were stacked everywhere! The top round bales were some big, tight bales of both grass and alfalfa that brought $50.00 to $65.00. Several stacks of hay sold at $25.00 to $35.00 per bale. The big squares ranged from $25.00 to $70.00 with only 1 lot of fancy alfalfa at $70.00. The wet wrapped wheat, rye and triticale bales at $10.00 to $20.00. Wet wrapped alfalfa brought $30.00. The cornstalk bales brought mostly $30.00 to $40.00. The straw round bales brought $17.50 to $35.00. The market sure is giving producers plenty of opportunities to stock pile some hay for the year at a very low cost. Without question, there will not be as much hay baled in 2025 as there was last year and it will get higher as we go to 2026.
The cattle sale had 1236 head. Baby calves ranged from $600.00 to $950.00. The baby holsteins brought $550.00 to $650.00. The feeder cattle market continues to hold pretty steady. The board has jumped up and down but cash feeders are holding steady to better. Several higher 300lb to lower 400lbstrs and bulls would bring $3.85 to $4.25 per pound. The steers right around 500lb brought $3.40 to $3.60 per pound. The 600lb steers brought $3.15 to $3.35, 745lb steers reached $2.90 and a nice load of red and black yearling steers weighing 878lb brought $268.25. The 300lb heifers were solid at $3.50 to $3.75. The 400lb steers brought $3.10 to $3.455, 500lb heifers topped at $3.15 and 600lb heifers were mostly $2.30 to $2.95. The 700lbs heifers ranged from $2.40 on a big fleshy type to $2.70 on the top end.
The weigh cows were higher with the top cow bringing $1.58. Feeding cows and take homes brought up to $2.10 to $2.30. Bulls topped at $1.75. Every week this market continues to move upward. I would say it is getting about ready to stall out for a few weeks, then charge on, as we get past Mother’s Day or into June. This summer will be a very explosive weigh cow market. Take care of them and have them ready to go!
The 5G crew has sorted up an awesome set of heifers for the coming season. They are maybe more even and docile for this time of year than normal. We are holding steady with what we have been doing the past few years. Customer’s have been calling back with calving reports that are very positive on last years group, so we will probably breed them about the same.
It’s a bred cow special coming up this week. A fancy set of fall bred angus cows bred to Hereford or angus bulls. A group of pairs that will have 200lb plus big calves on them, as well as, several more. Come take a look!
Have a dandy week!
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