Keosauqua Sales Co. Inc

 
October 2024  10/02/24 11:50:00 AM



10-29-24
        We were lucky and received a very welcome half inch of rain here last Thursday evening! Boy did it help knock the dust down and clean things up! We have continued to be pretty, warm for the end of October with highs into the low 80’s much of the week. We dropped down to 20 degrees Thursday morning but by noon we warmed right back up. The forecast is calling for a chance of rain Wednesday night this week and then Saturday night there is a good chance for four days straight, so we will see what comes out of that. The rye could sure use some more moisture, but we sure hope we don’t get into a long muddy spell in early November!
        Saturday the crew operated without me, as I attended annual Hereford Association meetings in Kansas City. There was sure plenty of stock around to keep them busy. The hog market had fat hogs were $0.52 to $0.59. The sows were stronger at $0.60 to $0.70. The feeder pigs were mostly $0.60 to $0.70 per pound.
        The sheep and goat sale had 550 head. The market was steady across all classes. The lambs weighing 50lb to 75lb ranged from $2.10 to $2.50 a pound. Ewes brought from $0.85 to $1.05 per pound. The kid goats held at $2.50 to $3.00 on the meat type kids. The nannies were mostly $1.20 to $1.60 a pound. The billies at $1.90 to $2.05 a pound.
        The outside sale bloomed up nicely on Friday and Saturday morning. I got caught being gone and Mr. High was unable to help Saturday. I tried 6 or 7 fellas looking for more auctioneer help and did not have any luck! So, Colby went to work and got thru it with a little help from Jimmy! The hay market was $3.00 to $6.00 on small squares and $30.00 to $50.00 on big rounds.  A few corn stalk bales brought $30.00 to $35.00. All kinds of miscellaneous items sold to a large active crowd out front again this week.
        The cattle sale was light on feeders and over 100 head of weigh ups again this week. The cow market looked very steady to higher on the rougher end of the cows and bulls. The top cows were $1.30 to $1.36 with feeding cows and heiferettes brought up to $1.98! The bulls brought at $1.50 to $1.60 on the high yielding, lean bulls.
        The crew is moving more bred heifers home this week to have them ready for the 5G bred heifer sale coming up on December 4th. They are coming off grass in really good shape and will be an outstanding offering for this annual sale!
        While in Kansa City, I judged the Junior shootout contest. The National Junior Hereford Association in conjunction with HRC feedyard din Scott City, KS host the Junior fed steer shoot out. This is where Junior members from all parts of the country send steers in December each year to go on feed. The calves come in at 600-800lbs. They are comingled with other junior steers for the contest. The kids get monthly feed invoice from HRC and receive educational videos and cattle feeding information via email. In April HRC hosts a field day for the juniors to see their steers at the feedyard. They spend the whole day in sessions regarding nutrition, marketing and even necropsy. They bring a whole carcass to the feedyard and are show how to cut it up and package it. The steers are harvested in early summer and then the kids write answers to a few industry and feedyard questions.
        Dr. Dave Nichols from Manhattan, KS and I scored the written portion and selected the top 3 individuals in the junior and senior division. Those 6 kids all came to Kansas City for the interview portion of the contest with Dr Nichols and Myself. It was really fun and the kids were really dialed in. The knowledge and professionalism of those young people learning the beef industry was really awesome to see. A Texas gentleman and a sharp young woman from North Carolina won their respective divisions. It is an industry leading program that teaches so much great information about the real world feeding and beef industry.
        This Saturday is our annual customer appreciation sale and BBQ. Consignors from the tri-state area will be bringing the very vest reputation cattle in for this sale and they only come once a year. We sure want to invite everyone to come Saturday to enjoy the great cattle we will be representing and say a big thank you to all of the buyers and sellers that make it possible for us to operate Keosauqua Sale Company!
 
Have a dandy week!

10-22-24
         This week is warm and continued to be dry… and very dusty!! We need a nice easy soaker to clean everything up and back the dust out of the calf weaning pens! Gravel roads are very dangerous if the wind is still. We bulldozed a couple fence rows out and are putting fence back and it is horribly dusty back in there! There is little chance of showers but at least we have a chance in the forecast, which is sure better than the past month. Harvest has really gone non-stop since it started. I sure don’t remember a stretch of this type of weather this long at harvest time. The huge yields have generated some unbelievable piles of grain across the entire Midwest and harvest is sure not over yet!
         Saturday’s sale had a big run of livestock and a good-sized outside sale. The hog market had sows selling at $65.00 to $70.00 for ones weighing over 500lb and sows under 500lb sold at $50.00 to $60.00. Fat hogs sold at $52.00 to $58.00. Pigs were still soft with roaster market struggling to get movement into areas that were tore up by the last 2 hurricanes.
         The sheep and goat market is starting to perk up slightly. Lambs weighing 60lb to 80lbs sold at $2.20 to $2.50, 90lb to 110lb lambs sold at $1.40 to $1.75. Ewes brought $0.80 to $1.10. Kid goats seem to be $2.75 to $3.20 on meat types. Nannies were $1.20 to $1.50. Big wethers overing 85lbs hit $2.50 to $2.80 a pound. Big billies brought $1.60 to $1.85
         The hay market was steady on big round bales and a little lower on small square bales of hay. The straw sold at $3.00 to $4.50 a bale. Big bales of mixed grass and alfalfa hay were $40.00 to $65.00. Rougher grass hay in a big full-size bale was $32.50. The first stack of new crop 4ft corn stalk bales were $35.00 this week.
         Derek was back to work on the outside merchandise this week. A few puppies, building materials, mums and other miscellaneous items made for 2 hours of work for them!
         The cattle sale had 1100 head for this sale. The baby calf market was $600 to $850 for beef types and $300 to $400 on dairy calves. The feeder cattle market was very solid all afternoon. Light weight steer calves sold up to $3.70, 400lb steers brought up to $3.50, 500lb steers were up to $3.22, 600lb steers at $2.85, and 700lb steers topped at $2.59. A group of 895lb steers sold at $245.50.
         The heifer market was good as well. The lighter 300lb heifers brought up to $3.35, 400lb heifers brought $3.20, 500lb heifers sold up to $2.90, 600lb heifers topped at $2.63 and 700lb heifers sold at $2.49.
         The cow market was steady with last week. The top cows at $1.30 to $1.38. Heiferettes and young feeding cows sold at $1.60 to $1.90. The bulls topped at $1.64.
         On Sunday Rachelle and I rand down to Reynolds Hereford Sale at Huntsville, MO. There was a big crowd gathered up for the sale and a great lunch on a beautiful afternoon. The Reynolds family had a great sale with a $9000 female to top the female sale and a $7000 bull to top the bull sale. We left Huntsville about 2 pm and cut through Shelbyville to look at the Vannoy cales on the way home. We were back to the barn at 5pm and picked up the roast for supper at Luke and Cody’s house.
         Luke and Cody hosted a pasture roping that afternoon and had a great group and crowd on hand. (It was awful dusty!) It was a nice evening to relax for a minute and get set for the week!
         I will be in Kansas City this Thursday through Saturday so call the office if you cannot reach me!
         We have our annual Customer Appreciation BBQ Sale fast approaching on November 2nd.
 
Have a dandy week!   

10-15-24
         Dry is an understatement for a large area here. The crops are dry coming out of the field. Roads and fields are horribly dusty everywhere you go now. We have been very lucky to avoid any fires so far as folks are trying to be very careful. No rain in the forecast for the next 10 days, will keep conditions much the same. It has cooled down however with 33 degrees for lows and high up to 65 degrees in the afternoon. As harvest marches on it would sure be good to catch a rain!
         Saturday had a very big run of hogs again! Feeder pigs dropped of as roasters are struggling to move pigs into areas that were tore up by the hurricanes the past couple of weeks. The 60lb pigs sold for $30.00 to $40.00 per head and 80lb to 90lb pigs were up to $60.00 to $70.00 per head. The fat hogs sold from $0.52 to $0.60. Sows sold from $0.60 to $0.68 on heavier weights.
         The sheep and got market held steady this week. The top lambs from 60lb to 80lb were $2.40 to $2.60 per lb. Lambs that were 90lb to 100lb brought up to $1.90 to $2.00 per lb. Ewes were $0.80 to $1.20 a pound. Kid goats from 50lb to 70lb brought $2.70 to $3.00 a pound. Nannies sold at $1.00 to $1.50. Big billies sold at $1.50 to $2.00 a pound.
         The outside sale had a shorter run this week. The small squares of good quality hay sold at $6.50 to $7.00 a bale. There were 6 or 8 stacks that sold like that. The rest of the bales sold from $3.00 to $5.00. There wasn’t any small squares of straw this week. The big round bales of mature oat hay with oats in the brought $37.50. Nice rounds of wheat straw brought $40.00. Mums made up a large portion of the miscellaneous sale bringing $5.00 to $14.00 apiece. Sheets of tin sold from $2.00 to $16.00 on some sheets of new green tin. There was a good crowd out front for as nice as a day as it was and forest craft festival here in the county .
         The cattle sale had baby beef calves selling at $600.00 to $700.00 per head. Cow/calf pairs mostly brought $3000 to $3400. A handful of fall bred cows sold at $2500 to $2800. There were also some spring bred cows sold at $2300 to $2700. We had a light run of feeder cattle, but there was over 100 weigh cows again this week. The top cows were $1.30 to $1.38 a pound, heiferettes were on up to $1.70 to $1.90 a pound and bulls topped at $1.68.
         We had a big birthday party last Sunday out at Luke & Cody’s machine shed. We had 3 granddaughters celebrating turning 1 year older. There was a great lunch, a few gifts and a pinata busting made for a great little party for them. I have been traveling loading country cattle the past couple weeks. It sure looks like the soybean harvest will be finished up this week. The corn harvesters are at it and the concern is here to it put it all! Yields are massive from anyone that been into it!
         We are taking pictures of the cattle tomorrow for the December 4th sale. I always pray that I still have a crew left to work after this day! It can be a struggle for a group of impatient men to get them through, but I’m sure we will!
 
         It’s a special feeder sale this Saturday.
 
Have a dandy week!

10-2-24
         Fall has arrived here in Southeast Iowa! Trees are brginning to turn colors, crops are drying down and harvest is under way! The inch of rain last week sure cleaned up the air from all the dust we had and the grass is still very green here. The temperatures have been in the 80’s a couple of days, but more into the70’s for highs. The lows are mostly in the 50’s, but it fell to 42 degrees here this morning. It looks to be dry and remain a very comfortable temperature for the coming week. Harvest will sure go quickly this fall.
         Saturday’s ale had 400 hogs, 550 sheep/goats and 425 head of cattle to end September! The hog market held pretty, steady across all classes. The fat hogs sold at $0.52 to $0.55 per pound. The sows topped in the lower $0.60’s. The feeder pigs were $0.70 to $0.80 for most of them. The bulk of the pigs are going into the roaster market at this time. With corn prices low, there is sure opportunity to feed pigs for a nice margin this fall.
         The sheep and goat market was, for the most part, steady. The lambs weighing 50-60lbs sold from $1.80 to $2.20. The middle weights topped at $2.00 and the fat lambs were $1.35 to $1.45. The ewes sold from $0.80 to $1.20. The bucks sold at $1.15 to $1.35. A few running age, open hair ewes brought $1.35 to $1.50 a pound. The billies sold at $1.50 to $2.00 per pound.
         Kid goats weighing 50lb brought up to $3.25and heavier kids sold for $2.00 to $2.80. Nannies ranged from $1.00 to $1.50 per pound and billies sold for $1.50 to $2.50 per pound.
         The outside sale saw square bales of hay at $2.00 to $5.00 per bale. Small squares of straw sold from $2.00 to $4.00 on a couple stacks of wire tied, pretty wheat straw. The big round bales haven’t changed for several weeks. The bulk of the hay sold from $30.00 to $50.00 and there were 300 bales this week. Mr. High had a full hour of miscellaneous items, including a wide range of beautiful mums! The mums sold from $5.00 to $20.00 and I’m sure there were well over 75 out there! The lumber, steel posts, puppies, metal, loader attachments made for a great run of items this week!
         The cattle sale had a few cows up front. A handful of bred heifers that were due to calve February brought $2050.00 per head. A couple of packages of middle-aged black pairs sold for $2550 to $2900. The feeder run was heavy with non-program cattle! They were mostly unweaned, all natural calves. The quality was sure nice and the market was active on all weights. The 350lb black bull calves brought $3.50, 450lb calves brought $3.25 and 500lb calves sold at $3.50. There was even a group of 10 black bulls weighing 600lb that brought $2.70! I’m not sure how to answer calls anymore asking should I cut my calves or just sell them off the cows! The heifer market was just as good with unweaned, non-vaccinated heifers weighing 350lb brought $3.20, 450lb calves sold at $3.00 and 550lb calves sold at $2.75.
         The weigh cows were only slightly lower than last week. The top cows sold at $1.35 to $1.37, with the bulk of them bringing $1.20. The bulls topped at $1.60. We will probably see it continue to erode a little each week for a little longer.
         The boys finished up chopping silage at Ted’s and that finished us up for the year. We had started running a drill with rye right behind the chopper and other than Ted’s its all up looking great for some nice fall pasture! We moved all the Hereford heifers home, that will be in the December sale. We will get clipped, get some pictures and get the catalog started. The heifers look good and it will be fun to have them in the auction coming up December 4th!
         We continue to feel for all the folks in the southeast that was displaced by all the flooding and storms from the hurricane. It is really horrible in places from Georgia, to the Carolina’s and to eastern Tennessee. There is no electricity and areas will it still be a week or two to get it back on. The water is a challenge in areas as well as the enormous loses in those areas there. Prayers for all of those affected!
         I weighed up cattle north of here on Monday. The yields of soybean and corn at the elevator are the biggest they have ever seen with beans at 70-90 bushels/acre and corn at 230-275 bushes/acre. The crop is huge for sure!
         It’s a special feeder cattle sale Saturday. We are expecting around 1000 head again this week!
         The machinery sale is coming along nice also for Wednesday, October 9th. Watch for those early listings!
 
Have a dandy week!
 
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