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January 2026 01/06/26 10:32:00 AM
1-19-2026
The past week started out warm and nice with a shower of rain. Then the weekend came and wow it got cold and windy! It was zero this morning with -20 degree wind chill factor and much worse north and west of here. Good thing is it’s not muddy! Looks like it could be cold tonight, then a couple warmer days before it gets very cold going into next weekend! We have sure had a good January so far, so I guess a few cold days won’t wreck us too bad.
Saturday had a nice run of hogs. The market was mostly steady with fat hogs selling at $0.58 to $0.84 to the top outside hogs going to a specialty market. The feeder pigs sold at $0.95 to $1.10 and sows sold at $0.60 to $0.68 on heavy sows over 500lbs. Boars over 350lb sold at $0.12 to $0.15.
The sheep and goat market had a slightly lighter head count, but a nice market across all classes. The lambs weighing 60lb to 85lb sold at $3.20 to $3.70 and fat lambs sold at $2.35 to $2.45. The pound ewes sold at $1.20 to $1.40. Kid goats weighing 45lb to 75lb sold at $3.50 to $3.90 per pound. Nannies brought $1.75 to $2.00.
The largest run of hay this winter came in this week. Small squares sold at mostly $4.00 to $6.50 on the fancy end and $2.00 to $4.00 on the common hay. Small straw bales sold at $2.50 to $4.00. Big square bales of grass hay were $25.00 to $37.50 and big squares of alfalfa were $40.00 to $60.00. The big round bales of grass type hay sold at $30.00 to $45.00 and alfalfa round bales sold at $40.00 to $55.00.
The firewood was in higher demand with the cold weather around. It was $15.00 to $20.00 on small piles and $75.00 on a tote full of nice black locust. Hedge posts stopped at $50.00 on some nice 9ft posts. Most lines sold at $5.00 to $15.00. It was very cold out front on the crew and crowd this week!
The cattle sale had 1105 head. There wasn’t any test on baby calves. The 200lb to 275lb blk calves sold at $1500.00 to $1650.00. The 300lb strs and bulls ran from $5.25 to $5.75 per pound, 400lbsteers topped at $5.15. A group of 555lb steers hit $4.55 on 4 head. The 600lb steers topped at $4.55, some 670lb steers brought $4.025 and 7 head of black steers weighing 705lb sold for $3.89.
The 300lb heifers hit $5.05, 400lb heifers sold at a $4.60 top. The 533lb heifers brought $4.07, 662lb baldie heifers topped at $3.75 and 4 head of 718lb heifers sold at $3.345.
There was a big run of cows and bulls to close out the evening. A very steady and strong market across the cows and bulls. The top end of the cows sold at $1.70 to $1.90. The top bulls sold at $2.26. There were lots and lots of cows selling at $1.55 to $1.65 and most bulls sold at $2.00 to $2.10.
The crew is working through the cold each morning. Tractors, feed trucks and loaders do not like the weather very well. The waterers have mostly been open. There are always a few water tanks that find a way to challenge you when it gets like this!
Becky and I attended the Jefferson County Cattlemen’s banquet last week. They filled the Walton club again this year and put on a good feed for everyone!
I didn’t go to Dever this year, but I did watch a little of the pen show and visited with guys that were there. I’m sure glad I didn’t make the trip in the airplane in that nasty wind!
It is a regular sale this Saturday. Stay warm and have a dandy week!!
1-12-2026
The weather continues to be up and down some. We have had a mostly warmer week with highs even in the 50’s this week. Thunderstorms and half to three quarters an inch of rain came through on Thursday. Friday and Saturday turned off sunny and nice, then it got colder Saturday night and froze up pretty good. The ground sure doesn’t have any frost in it now, so the past rains have been able to soak in some and give us some sub soil moisture for spring. The forecast looks much the same for the next week with highs in the 40’s to lower 50’s and a couple lows later in the week going down in the teens. I sure hope it does, we need to haul manure again!
Saturday had a huge crowd around for all parts of the sale, but particularly the outside sale and the start of the cattle sale! The hog sale led things off at 9am with a good sample of all classes. The feeder pigs sold right at a dollar per pound. The fat hogs mostly brought $0.55 to $0.65. The sows ranged from $0.60 to $0.65 for over 500lbs and $0.45 to $0.60 for under 500lbs. The big boars were at $0.10 to $0.17 on nearly 20 head of those big fellas.
The sheep and goat market had a few less head count and lower trending market after the holidays. The kid goats were mostly $3.20 to $3.80 and nannies sold $1.20 to $1.50. Bobble babies brought $50.00 to $80.00 per head.
The lambs weighing 50lb to 80lb at $2.75 to $3.00. There weren’t any fat lambs this week. Weigh up ewes sold at $1.00 to $1.30 and bucks sold at $1.50. Bottle lambs brought $50.00 to $70.00 on 3-4 head.
The outside sale had a nice offering of hay. The small square sold from $5.00 to $6.50! The big round bales sold from $40.00 to $55.00 for bigger grass or alfalfa bales. Th small bales sold from $20.00 to $35.00 and we wrapped bales mostly at $20.00 to $30.00. The cornstalk round bales were in high demand with the current wet and sloppy conditions. They were at $45.00 on the first stack then moved to $55.00 before we finished up! You might not expect that market every week! One pile of round straw bales sold at $40.00. The big square bales sold from $25.00 to $70.00. The $25.00 bales were shorter grass and some legume mixed. The $70.00 bales were some 3rd cutting bigger type bales. The big square bale market was $50.00 on most of them.
Derek and Colby had a good run of outside merchandise and a darn nice crowd out front. The hedge post market was $6.00 to $15.00 on lines and $17.00 to $40.00 on corners.
The cattle sale was a special cow sale this week and we have over 600 head. It was sure one of the largest spectator crowds we have seen in several sales! The baby calves sold from $750.00 to $1150.00. Most beef cales sold from $1000.00 to $1150.00. A couple packages of cow/calf pairs sold at $3800.00 to $4200.00. Bred heifers were from $3300.00 to $4200.00. The bulk of them were right around $3800.00 this week. The 3-4yr old black cows bred for spring sold at $4400.00. The most of the middle-aged spring breds sold from $3500.00 to $4200.00. The short/solid and aged spring bred cows sold at $2800.00 to $3300.00. A small group of 5-8ur old first period cows brought $3250.00 The Irwin angus bulls coming 2 yr olds brought $5500.00.
There was a large run of weigh cows that continue to come to the market each week. Even though the packers want to buy cows lower they continue to big up on cows to get possession for the week! The top cows remain at that $1.75 to $1.90 and the top bulls bring $2.20 to $2.26!
Today is the first time I have caught select box beef at a premium to choice beef! That should be a very solid indicator that the cow meat is in good shape for a while. My guess is that we are in a dang good market until we get something coming in from south of the border. That may ease up the cow market, but it’s not likely to impact choice beef.
I needed to be in Oklahoma City on Thursday last week to judge the Hereford pen show. The weather turned stormy so Becky went with me and we drove down. We left at 5 o'clock Wednesday evening and drove to Wichita and slept until 6am then drove on down Thursday morning to the fairgrounds at 9:43am. The show started at 11am. We grabbed a hamburger on AHA and stopped at a couple stalls pack in the new show arena and headed back home at 2 pm. We made it back at 11:30 Thursday night. It wasn’t bad at all with Becky along, but would dang sure rather fly anytime. That city traffic is for the birds! We saw some good cattle and visited with great folks, but that show business is not for me!
The boys put the heifers through the chute that Luke and Cody are going to calve this spring and gave them their 2nd scour vaccine. The calving season is getting close for sure, as we are beginning to see a few show up in the area!
We have another dang good run of feeder cattle lining up for this week’s feeder cattle special. The market and the weather make it a perfect time to sell a few!
Have a dandy week!
1-5-2026
There was beautiful weather across the Midwest to kick off 2026 this week! We have had highs in the 40’s and lows just to 20 or so. We have cleared off and had blue skies after the clouds of last week. The forecast looks just as nice and warmer with highs into the 50’s as we move to next weekend. It sure is nice to not fight that bitter cold and snow as we start off the new year!
Saturday, we saw a real good run of livestock of all classes and a large amount of hay. The hog market had fat hogs topping at $0.78. The bulk of the market was more at $0.68 to $0.73. The sows were $0.68 to $0.76 for over 500lbs. The lighter weight sows sold from $0.56 to $0.67. The feeder pigs backed off the Christmas high with the market at $0.85 to $0.93 for pigs around 100lb. The lighter weights were right at a dollar per pound.
The sheep and goat market had over 500 head again this week. The lamb market was sure steady at $3.50 to $4.125 for lambs weighing 58lb to 80lb. The heavier weights sold from $2.30 from $2.30 to $2.55. Ewes sold mostly at $1.10 to $1.30. Kid goats topped at $4.10 on 59lb, but they mostly brought $3.50 to $3.90 on the 50lb to 70lb kids. Cull nannies were generally from $1.60 to $1.80 and billies sold at $2.50 to $2.75 per pound. A handful of ewes with baby lambs at side sold at $100.00 to $120.00 counting noses.
The outside sale had small squares selling at $2.50 to $7.00 with the bulk of them at $4.00 to $5.00. Small straw bales topped at $6.00. Big round bales of hay were mostly at $20.00 to $35.00. Wet wrapped grass mix hay sold at $25.00 to $35.00. Big square bales sold at $40.00 to $65.00 on mostly alfalfa type hay. There were a lot of nice miscellaneous items including some new merchandise that drew a very large crowd of bidders! It was a fun day to be outside in the sunshine with such a great crowd! Thank you Randall Burkholder for stepping into help auction the outside sale while Derek is off to live saving training again! (EMT Training).
The cattle sale to start the year off had a great offering of the area’s very best cattle. The market is holding quite well across all classes. The 350lb to 400lb strs one at a time would sell at $5.35 to $5.50. Unweaned 425lb bwf strs sold at $5.175. We had several cattle in to 6 weight to the 8 weight range. Some 640lb strs sold at $4.34 and another package at $4.51. The 700lbs touched $3.90 to $3.91 on multiple groups. The good 850lb steers were very solid at $3.40 to $3.51.
The 300lb heifers sold at $5.00 to $5.10. Several little groups of 3-5 head of 500lb heifers were $4.00 to $4.15. The 600lb heifers sold at $3.60 to $3.80 and the bulk of the 700lb heifers sold at $3.30 to $3.50 with a couple sets of replacement type heifers bringing $400 at 710lb.
The weigh cow business rounded out the evening sale with 185 head. The better cows sold at $1.70 to $1.85. The top bull broke an all-time record high set last spring. A 2550lb bull brought $2.36, which figures out to $6018.00!
The crew did a great job working through all the stock and getting loaded out! It was late when we got finished up and trucks loaded through the night and were loading again at 6am! It was a very busy Sunday as well loading trucks, getting checks for folks, getting checks in and loading hay out! I’m one of the few guys that’s always glad to see Monday come along! I am headed to Oklahoma City this week to the National Hereford show. I hope to stop and look at some cattle on the way down.
We have a big run of high-quality bred cows and heifers consigned for this coming week. The nice weather, low fee and hay prices, combined with the active feeder marked sure gives folks the opportunity to capitalize on the value that these cows and heifers have. They continue to lag behind the rest of the cattle market! Come take a look, you won’t be disappointed this week!
Have a dandy week!
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