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August 2019 08/06/19 6:31:00 PM
8-12-2019
We have had a couple cooler days but the rest of the week we were in the upper 80’s to low 90’s and dry. Monday morning, we received a half to three quarters of an inch of much needed rain. A small chance for rain again for showers this evening then dry in the week ahead.
I loaded cattle Friday morning at Centerville that went to a northeast IA feeder. I had a turn at watching the historic Gammon barn on the State Fair grounds from 1 to 5 on Friday afternoon, so I just ran up from Centerville to the Fair. I arrived on the south side of the fair grounds about noon and hiked on to the fairgrounds. I saw a few draft horse teams in the outdoor arena showing in a farm class. I stopped by the hog barn and visited with Washington CO guys Jamie Sieren and Tim Marek. Continuing on to my destination, I walked thru the cattle barn that was filled with dairy animals, I didn’t spend much time there! I did grab lunch and ate in the main pavilion where the dairy cattle were showing.
The cows were just a little thinner than I expected, and man do they walk them in granny slow gear! I was glad to be somewhere else at 1:00. The old Gammon barn is on the NE corner of the open class cattle barn. It is the barn that came from St. Marys IA from the Gammon farm. The Gammons are credited with producing the first Polled Hereford Cattle. The building has a lot of history in it even a picture of my little sister when she was IA Hereford Queen! I forgot how slow time goes when you are not busy! That afternoon took a while to pass but I survived and will probably take my turn again next year. We sure need to give Ray Dittmer a big hand for his endless work at keep the Ole barn going. He spends the whole fair opening, closing and making sure someone is there to watch over the barn. I got home about 7:30, checked cows and went to bed.
Saturday’s sale had a big run of hay and misc. items and a regular run of livestock. The hog sale had a higher market on sows, steady on everything else. The top sows got to $57 this week. Fat hogs traded were mostly $51 to 55 and the pigs were around 60 to 70 cents for all weights.
Sheep and goats totaled 512 head and the market slid off of the holiday highs (ethnic holiday). Light lambs sold mostly $1.40 to 1.60 and fat lambs were $1.35 to 1.45. Kid goats were mostly $2.20 to 2.50 per lb. and nannies and billies were also softer.
The hay market was steady to slightly higher. Small bales ranged from $2.50 to 6.50. B ig rounds were in the $60 to 80 for net wrapped grass hay and $45 to 60 for string tied or smaller bales. Demand was good with folks taking larger quantities. The Vermeer 220V wheel rake sold for $2800 and all kinds of misc. items had strong interest.
The cattle sale had baby calves selling $150 to 350 for beef calves and $50 to 70 for dairy calves. A group of five new crop black bull calves averaging just over 200 pounds sold for $600 per head and the heifer mates brought $500. Feeders sold mostly steady on a wide range of kinds. The weigh cow market was very strong with many cows bringing $68 to 74 with an $80 top and a top bull at $101!
Boys pregnancy checked a group of black white face heifers this morning. They did as well as any so far at 90% bred and 67% AI safe. This is a fancy set that will be a sale feature in December
The Hereford show is coming up Thursday at the Iowa State Fair, so hoping to make it back up there for that. We are working on some fence and hanging some gates that we have needed for at least a year. The boys are getting really good at hanging gates!
The cattle industry is shaking this week with a fire at the Tyson plant in Holcomb, KS. Daily kill was 6000 head. The market was down the limit on fats and feeders today as the trade tries to figure out how the numbers will move into other parts of the industry. My favorite market guru predicted boxes to be higher today and they sure were with choice up $2.28 and select up $3.66! Packer margins are in line to get much bigger!
A special cattle sale coming up next weekend!
Have a Dandy Week!
8-5-2019
Temperatures warmed up to the mid 80’s this week and we are drying out a bit too much for comfort! There is a slim chance of rain over night but the forecast sure looks dry. The early corn is doing ok, but the later planted corn and beans will need more rain to have a chance of making something. Pastures have dried up and hay fields are not coming back to quick either. August sometimes can bring welcome rain so we hope we can catch some.
It has been another busy week here in southeast Iowa. Wednesday was the second day of pregnancy checking Hereford cows and Monday the boys checked the first group of commercial black heifers. Hereford cows finished up with just 5% open and 75% AI bred. That was really awesome for me. I haven’t got them that well bred for several years. The commercial heifers are running on same percentage as usual at 15% open and 70% AI bred.
Saturday turned out to be another good sale. The hog market had fat hogs trading from $53 to 55 this week. Big sows jumped higher to a $51 top! Most of the light sows were $38 to 43. Feeder pig numbers were down this week.
The sheep and goat sale was big again selling way over 900 head again. The market is holding strong. Lambs averaging from 60 to 80 pounds sold from $1.60 to 1.80 for the better yielding kind. Fat lambs sold from $1.50 to 1.54 per lb. The goat market was good also. 60 to 90-pound boer kids sold from $165 to 265 per head. Heavy boer cross nannies sold from $160 to 240 per head and two separate boer billies brought over $500 per head and not for breeding purposes! That market keeps building momentum with consignors hauling in from over 125 miles away!
The outside sale had small squares of hay and straw. Wheat straw brought $4 to 4.50 per bale. Hay ranged from $2.50 to 10.50. Big round bales continued to have good interest. Most hay sold from $65 to 75. Big square bales of hay ranged from $42.50 on some rough grass to $70 for some 3rd cutting alfalfa bales. I had a pretty wide assortment of misc. items this week! I sold a baler, rake, flair box and gear and a 98 F150 that didn’t run, as well as cucumbers, onions, peppers, sweet rolls, cookies and a few plants. Probably had the most attention or chatter around a cane, pogo stick and a prosthetic leg! You really never know what might show up out there!
The cattle sale had over 20 baby calves. The Holsteins brought $50 to 75 and $200 to 435 for the beef calves. The middle-aged pairs we sold had calves that were 200 to 350 pounds and the cows had been with the bulls since early May. They had decent action selling mostly $1400 to 1575. Feeders were steady across all classes. Weigh cows were also steady with nearly 100 cows in the pound sale. The top was at $75 but many cows brought from $64 to 72. The top market bull was $97.50 this week.
We baled some nice hay Sunday afternoon. I loaded out most of the day while Ted raked, and Curt got it baled Becky helped me get the bales picked up and put in the barn by 10:00 p.m. Luke and Colby are putting the final touches on the geldings they are getting ready for the Nebraska horse sale at the end of the month. They are getting to the arena three or four times a week to keep them tuned up!
A regular sale this week and then a good special feeder cattle sale coming up August 17th.
Have a Dandy Week!
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