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October 2026 10/09/2026 9:19:00 AM
10-13-2026
A small half in of rain the past week, otherwise the weather has been spectacular for harvest. It has been warmer, with highs into the mid to upper 80’s. Overnight lows have been in the mid to upper 50’s. Combines continue to roll in the area, taking out soybeans and corn. It looked like Monday, the majority of the acres being harvested were beans rather than corn. The forecast has a chance of rain coming in the next couple weeks and some cooler temperatures. We will see how it comes, but hopefully it won’t be a big delay in harvest!
Saturday was forest craft festival weekend here in the county. We had a regular sale here to help work through all the traffic. It was sure a pretty day and there were people all over the area!
The sale was a regular sale and had 300 hogs, 450 sheep and goats, a very long outside sale and 250 head of cattle. The hog market continues to drift lower. The fat hogs sold mostly $0.53 to $0.63. Sows were scarce and sold at $0.48 to $0.55 with no offerings over 500lb. Feeder pigs were steady to lower with the exception of a set of 25lb spotted pigs that got to $30.00 per head. The bigger pigs from 70lb to 100lb were at $0.60 to $0.70 per pound on most groups.
The sheep sale had big numbers of light lambs coming in off grass. The 40lb to 60lb lambs sold from $3.50 to $4.00 per pound. The 80lb to 90lb ranged more at $2.85 to $3.20 and a very small overing of fat lambs sold from $2.60 to $2.80 per pound. Ewes were mostly at $1.20 to $1.50 and cull rams were about the same.
The goats were in shorter supply. The 40lb to 60lb kids brought $3.85 to $4.20. nannies were at $1.50 to $1.85 and billy goats were at $1.85 to $2.50. It looks like this market is very stable for the time being.
Colonel Jim had some dental work done this week, so I had Chad Claussen to fill in for him. Jimmy got along very good and won’t be gone very long. Chad helped sell outside a while and helped inside during the morning portion. We really appreciate his help this week.
The outside sale was really big and we sold a new, never before offered item at Keosauqua! A military uni-mog. No kidding! This has a backhoe loader, a hydraulic chainsaw, drill and jackhammer. Plus, I’m sure things we didn’t find. There were people stopping and looking at the unit all week and tons of inquiries about it. There were several opinions about its value, but the auction method of selling determined it to be worth $14,500! That was over $7000 higher than any of the guesses I hear reported. It’s just another perfect example of a live auction getting real value out of something!
The cattle sale had a few baby valves selling at $750 to $1050. The top 5yr old cow with a fall calf sold at $3600. A few spring bred 2nd period aged cows sold at $2800 to $3000. A couple 500lb bulls with nothing done brought $4.05 and 655lb bulls like them brought $3.75. The weigh cow market was active. Younger cows and feeding type cows were extra active! Slaughter cows sold from $1.40 to $1.60 on the better yielding. The bull market was steady with $2.24 paid on a big Hereford bull for this week’s sale.
Ted had some corn planted the 5th of July, that we were able to get chopped and put in the bunker last week. It did really good for being planted that late and made a good pile of silage for the winter. We had a drone aerial seed the rye, turnips and radishes on about a month ago. That all sprouted nicely and we are anxiously awaiting a shower to push that along after chopping. It looks like there may be some places were the carts and tractors drove that is set back so we are curious how it will recover here in the next little bit!
The 5G heifers are arriving in now, both new heifer calves and the big girls that will be getting ready for the sale December 2nd! The boys have a couple months here that get really busy!
There is a very nice run of feeder cattle coming up this Saturday, as well as a good run of everything else.
Have a dandy week!
10-5-2026
The rain has finally given in to some very pretty sunshine! It rained most everyday last week, accumulating close to 3inches of rain. North and west had larger totals up to 5-8 inches in places. The Des Moines river is full, but didn’t get out of the banks here in town. The sunshine and clear skies have sure been a blessing after the long cloudy, rainy spell. The grass is green and growing but really washy! It will get hardened up and make an abundance of fall and early winter grazing. The rye we put in after chopping is up and growing nicely! We had a scattered seeding on some ground that we bulldozed and cleaned up and boy it’s doing darn good as well. We are thankful for the moisture at the right time for sure!
Saturday had 400 head of hogs, 500 sheep and goats and 650 cattle. The hog market had a couple Hereford fat hogs get back to $0.83, but the bulk of the nicer butchers were $0.68 to $0.75. Sows were up to $0.60 on a couple bigger ones and $0.48 to $0.55 on the lighter end. The feeder pigs were at $0.50 to $0.75 per a pound.
The sheep and goat market was steady to slightly better, Lambs weighing 40lb topped at $4.10 per pound. The 60lb 70lb sold up to $3.70 and fat lambs topped at $2.85 at 150lb. The weigh ewes brought $0.90 to $1.30. The kid goats sold at $3.80 to $4.50. Big wethers weighing 100lb sold at $2.45. Nannies were mostly $1.40 to $1.80 on a good supply. The big billies sold at $2.10 to $2.25. This market sure looks solid as we start in the fall.
The outside market had small squares selling at $3.00 to $6.50. One pile of old crop straw bales sold for $4.50. Ther was a big run of miscellaneous items again on a really pretty day out front with close to 100 people in attendance.
The cattle sale had baby calves bringing $750 to $1050. A few odd pairs and bred cows sold at $2500 to $3500. There was stronger interest in the feeder cattle market this week with fields still too wet to harvest. Farmers set in to start some new cattle. The 318lb steers brought $6.05, 425lb brought $5.00, some 557lb right off the cow brought $4.29 and some 602lb sold at $4.125. Heifers weighing 325lb brought $5.05. Replacement angus heifers weighing 448lb brought $5.55 and their big sisters weighing 538lb brought $5.15 or $2770 per head. Congratulations to Burton Eads on a great sale. Burton has spent a lifetime building a great cow herd and it’s awesome to see him rewarded for his efforts. Most 700lb yearling heifers sold at $3.10 to $3.25.
The weigh up cows sold at $1.30 to $1.50 on the middle cut and $1.50 to $1.75 on the high end. The bulls topped at $2.20 to $2.28.
The forecast looks like a beautiful week ahead. Lows are into the 40’s and highs up to the 70’s and mostly sunny. The harvest will be in full motion this week. Early reports sound like corn and bean yields are extremely impressive so far! We wish everyone a safe harvest!
Forest Craft Festival is going on in Van Buren County this weekend. Make arrangements coming to the sale accordingly as there will be lots of traffic and a parade in town.
Have a dandy week!
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