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June 2026 06/17/26 11:19:00 AM
6-16-2026
The area is getting to where we could sure share some rain with those that need it very badly! Our soil is soaked, ponds and creeks are full everywhere. We were lucky to avoid any flooding or any bad storms that rolled through the county last week and we are very thankful for all the above! The chance of rain is significantly higher again Wednesday this week, like 80%. Then it looks to be dry the rest of the week.
Saturday had a good run of hogs selling, over 300 head. A couple nice groups of pigs were included in that number. There was 37 head of 46lb pigs brought $55.00, 90hd of 63lb pigs sold at $66.00 and some 75lb pigs sold at $79.00. Sows sold from $0.65 to $0.66 for over 500lb. Then $0.50 to $0.61 on the light weights. Fat hogs were mostly $0.70 to $0.74.
The sheep and goat sale had 450 head. A good-sized group of 1-4yr old Katahdin ewes with young lambs sold at $121.00 counting noses on 67 head. The lambs under 40lb sold by the head at $90.00 to $110.00 per head. The 50lb to 80lb lambs were easier this week with only a few select groups at $3.00 to $3.10. The bulk sold at $2.75 to $3.00 per pound. Some 125lb lambs also brought $3.00 per pound. The pound ewes ranged from $1.40 to $2.00 per pound. Kid goats under 40lbs brought $150.00-180.00 per head. Nannies ranged from $1.95 to $2.40 per pound. Billies brought $2.10 to $2.50 per pound. There will be a fancy big group of Katahdin ewes close to lambing and a few families for next weeks sale.
The outside sale had a bigger run of small square bales of hay. The market is pretty much $2.00 to $4.50 on new crop hay. The big squares of mixed hay ranged from $45.00 to $55.00. The big rounds sold at $55.00 to $65.00 per bale. The demand is very solid for quality new crop hay. Derek and Colby sold miscellaneous items to a very large crowd. The side by side brought $4350. Rhubarb sets brought $15.00, blueberry bushes at $10.00, metal barrels sold at $10.00, flower baskets were up to $35.00. A decent used creep feeder brought $160.00.
The cattle sale had over 500 and was made up of mostly cows. The baby calves ranged from $950.00 to $1625.00. We had a very nice run of cows/calf pairs for a June sale. The 2-5yr olds with mostly young cales sold from $4750.00 to $5350.00. Middle-aged cows with young calves were $4350.00 to $4750.00 and aged cows with those small babies were scares at $3700.00 to $3950.00. Good numbers of 8yr to aged cows bred to calve in the next 90 days sold at $3750.00 to $4150.00. A handful of breeding bulls sold from $4250.00 to $5000.00. Herefords topped the bull sale! (We didn’t have any angus bulls.)
There was a light run of feeder cattle, but a good big run of weigh up cows and bulls again. The cow market was slightly lower as cow buyers weighing thoughts on the JBS cow plant going dark in Pennsylvania this summer. They announced last Friday that it would be closing in mid-August. It really hasn’t drastically affected the market yet and in all likelihood it will not. JBS has plenty of space to move what that plant has been processing at their other regional plants. The top cows were $1075 to $1.90 with younger cows and heiferettes bringing $2.50 to $2.85. The top bulls sold at $2.62 on a lean high yielding stud!
Becky and I went to New Mexico to visit my sister Debbie and her family Sunday and Monday. It was wet and ben needed to occupy some time so he didn’t try spraying some crop in the mud, so we jumped in the plane and flew down Sunday morning. We left about 9am and was on the ground in Raton, NM at 12:15. Little low cloud ceiling made for a slight challenge for the skipper to get her on the ground, but Ben is no rookie and landed easily! Deb and her crew all met us at the airport and went to grab some lunch.
It has been a few years since we have been out to northeast New Mexico to visit. They got older, their house is bigger, but that country still looks the same. My dad would run out and see them most every year. He would always come home saying, “I don’t know why you would want to live in a rock garden!” It’s pretty scenic country with some mountains, mesas, buttes and big wide valleys. There is sure not crop fields, only just a few meadows, irrigated for some small hay production. It is a 40 acre per cow unity is the base. (I don’t think that’s enough!) It’s always amazing that the grazing livestock are usually in good body condition. It would be awful hard for me to learn how to take care of cattle out there. Going out and back sure makes you thankful for moisture and fertile soil that we have here in the Midwest! We had a great visit and left Monday afternoon at 4:30 and 3.5 hours later I was home in my own bed.
I mowed a little hay this afternoon. There is a big chance of rain tomorrow morning, so we will see what happens and get the tedder running when it dries off. This was just some grass and clover that I didn’t mess with the first time around. That second cutting alfalfa is really blooming heavy, needs mowed as soon as we can. I may try go get more tomorrow if the rain isn’t too bad!
We are treating some pinkeye as usual. Draxxin doesn’t seem to be working very was. LA300 is working okay. It’s about like usual. If you treat them they will get better in 2 weeks, if you don’t they will still be better in 2 weeks! We went ahead and treated them anyway!
Special cattle sale coming up this week June 20th.
Have a dandy week!
6-10-2026
We received another 1.5 to 1.75 inches of nice rain. It was a good soaker for sure. We have jumped the humidity way back up and the temps were up against 90 degrees a couple days. It made it pretty uncomfortable for me at least. The crop sure loves it and is changing almost hourly! Boy can that corn grow when it gets like this. The alfalfa that we mowed first is blooming and need mowed again, but strong chances of rain this week will hold us off mowing that 2nd cutting. Hopefully if we get towards the weekend the humidity will go down and give us a window to get that next cutting baled!
The first sale in June really turned into a big one! The hog sale sold form $0.66 to $.73 with the dark colored outside types leading the market. The feeder pigs had solid and stead interest. The 39lb pigs sold up to $57.50 per head and 75lb pigs were up to $91.00 per head. I took a phone call from a man in North Dakota this morning that wants to purchase Hereford or Berkshire pigs to feed out for a lock business. You never know what you will find when you answer the phone or answer those phone numbers that are out of the area!
The sheep and goat market had a large run again with over 500 head. The kid got market came back to life this week selling 50lb to 70lb kids at $4.30 to $4.80 for the top end. Most nannies by the pound brought $1.85 to $2.20. Billies sold at $1.85 to $2.40 per pound. The lamb market improved some as well. The 50lb to 70lb lambs were mostly $3.00 to $3.35 per pound. The 110lb to 120lb lambs topped at $3.35 per pound. Weigh up ewes brought $1.40 to $1.80 and the ole bucks brought $1.30 to $1.80 per pound. There are some fancy ewes and lambs and a very nice set of 3yr old Polypay ewes running with a Dorset ram that will be here for this coming Saturday’s sale on June 13th.
The outside sale had hay, posts and a big offering of miscellaneous items. The small squares were mostly $3.50 to $7.00 per bale. The big round bales of new crop hay was $42.50 up to $60.00. Hedge corner posts sold from $15.00 on the low quality, up to $75.00 on the top. The line posts were $5.00 to $30.00 in this week’s group. Flowers, all kinds of plants and a large array of other miscellaneous items kept a large crowd involved for most of 2 hours out front again this week!
The cattle sale seemed to surprise some buyers and more sellers, with the strength of the market. Baby calves were sure lower from the extra strong market the week before. The bulk of the nicer type cales would bring from $1300 to $1600. A few steers in bulls in the 200lb range were sold at $2100 to $2150 per head. The 4 weight steers were at $5.60 to $5.80 at the upper end. There was 8 head of 538lb blk steers that sold for $5.29. Some 6 weight steers were very good at $4.70 to $4.75 on the upper end. The 700lb top was at $4.00 to $4.10. A load of 885lb medium fleshed black steers brough $3.55.
The heifer cales in the 300lb range sold at $5.45 for a top. The 4 weights topped at $5.375. Some 600lb heifers topped at $4.075 and some 737lb heifers brought $3.74. A load of black heifers that were medium fleshed weighing 825lb brought $3.4575.
The weigh cow volume is still at high numbers for the first of June with 175 head. The top cow was a 1565lb cow brought $2.08. A lot of cows in the $1.75 to $1.90 rang. A new bull top this week with $2.67 paid for a 2455lb blk/white spotted bull, which totals to $6550 per head!
By 9 o’clock we finished the sale with 1400 head through the ring. It was hot and humid for the stock and the crew. They did a great job getting everything handled with all the volume that was here Saturday. We are sure grateful to find young people that want to work on Saturday!
We are treating a little pinkeye and foot rot in places. It aggravates me that some cattle can find those wet sloppy places to stand in during the day when it’s hot and muggy. I’m sure fighting flies. The stable flies seem to pester them more than face and back flies, so I may need to spray again this week after the rain. I never like to treat much, just ahead of a rain, sly spray never lasts long enough anyway.
We have an outstanding offering of younger pairs, bred cows and some breeding bulls coming for this week’s sale June 13th! With all our feed in the area and the calf market lining up good, these pairs and bred cows look as good as any for investment into the future of cattle business. I hope you can take a look at this group and give yourself an opportunity for profit!!
Have a dandy week!
6-2-2026
We have slipped into a drier weather pattern the past 10 days. We are warm into the mid 80’s and 60’s at night for lows. There was forecasted chance of rain the last weekend, but we ended up going by without getting anything. There is another chance of rain coming up this weekend and we would welcome that for sure. The first cutting of alfalfa hay went up really nice and regrowth is coming on quickly. Our corn was planted on May 24th and was out of the ground in 5 days! It’s amazing what that stuff can do when it’s got a fair chance.
Saturday’s sale had 200 hogs. Fat hogs sold from $0.65 to $0.75. Big sows sold from $0.62 to $0.65. Feeder pigs continue to have a very solid demand from feeders and roaster buyers. Some 86lb pigs sold at $101.00 per head and some 110lb brought $110.00 per head.
The sheep and goat market is softer, but still darn good on 450 head. The 50lb kid goats sold at $4.30 to $4.60. Nannies sold by the pound brought $1.75 to $2.00 with a few young fancy ones bringing $2.60 to $2.85 per pound. The bucks sold at $2.05. The lamb market for 50lb to 80lb was $2.75 to a few at $3.10 per pound. Ewes were at $1.25 to $1.50 per pound. The sheep and goat market definitely remained strong longer this spring than usual.
Small squares of hay sold from $1.50 to $5.50, which included a large percentage of new crop bales coming right out of the field. The round bales sold from $45.00 to $60.00 with buyers hoping to put some hay away for winter, in case the market moves higher.
There was all kinds of miscellaneous items again this week. That outside sale is sure something to see! It is amazing that we receive the volume of merchandise we do each and every Saturday and the next week is always just as much or more!
The cattle sale had baby the calf market setting an all-time high! Nice calves sold at $2000 to $2150 for 5 or 6 of them. Mini calves a couple months old sold at $1200. Pairs were selling from $4500 to $5400. Mostly very young calves on red angus cows. A few single black pairs were in the same range. The red cows in the 3rd period, calving now brought $4100 to $4400. The blacks brought about the same. There were mostly 3yr to 7yr old cows in the run. Feeder cattle were very active on 100 head of everything. Weigh cows were steady to places 4-5 cents lower. We still had 135 head of cows and bulls in the run. It will be very interesting watching this market as we go into summer. The driver of the market will be if the drought stricken areas catch some rain or not this year.
Last Saturday I had a few Hereford females selling in a sale near Rockford, IL. Our sale was getting finished up, so Rachelle and aI jumped in the airplane with Ben and Ashley and buzzed up to the even. We pupped in as the boys were making the opening comments and introductions. The sale was very lively, with very strong interest in the Hereford females. The top lot brought $30K and the sale average was over $12k. We ate a quick supper after the sale was over, flew home and was in bed by 10!
We finished the spring AI work and turned all the clean up bulls in. We are starting to see some pinkeye in spots, but so far no big tick challenge. I have had producers call that are sure fighting them. You need to pour them with ivermectin if you notice an increased tick load.
We have a really good run of feeder cattle coming for this week’s special on June 6th!
Have a dandy week!
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