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January 2025 01/07/25 4:26:00 PM
1-30-25
It’s been so warm and sunny and it feels good to be out working at the end of January that I forgot about the news this week! We are calving right along at my house and the calves are dried off quickly and are up nursing just as rapidly. Man, it’s been nice with highs over 50 degrees yesterday and well into the 40’s most of the week. The nighttime lows have been both sides of 32 degrees to close out January 2025! The forecast calls for a rain event Thursday evening into Friday, so we will see how that turns out. We are dry on top and have several inches of frost in the ground, so not sure a rain will be beneficial right now.
Saturday was a peach of a day and a large crowd came to Keosauqua for the sale. The hog market was sure active on all types and kinds. The fat hogs had very strong interest at $0.65 to $0.75 and a Hereford butchers up to $0.84. The sows sold from $0.50 to $0.65. Nothing much in the feeder line up. I’m getting inquiries about pigs from folks wanting to feed a few.
The sheep and goat market was steady on 500 head. The lambs weighing 50lb to 65lbs sold from $2.90 to $3.25 per pound. The fat lambs were up to right at $2.00 per pound. The ewes ranged from $1.00 to $1.35 per pound. A middle-aged ewe with twins brought $100 counting noses. The better ewes going to lamb sold from $200 to $250 per head.
The fat kid goats weighing about 50lb are starting to get up to $4.00 per pound now. The bulk of them are trading at $3.60 to $3.90. The nannies are selling at $1.35 to $1.70 per pound. The billies are up to over $2.00 per pound. A package of bred does brought up to $275.00 per head and a family of 7 brought $95.00 per head.
The outside sale had a big run of hay. The small squares of hay sold from $2.00 to $6.50. The small squares of straw brought $3.00 to $4.00. The big round bales of hay sold from $17.50 to $45.00. The straw round bales sold at $30.00 to $40.00. There weren’t any cornstalk bales. There sure looks like a good opportunity to put some good quality round bales away for next year at the prices we are at now!
The cattle sale had a handful of baby calves selling at $350.00 to $850.00. The younger 3-5yr old, bred cows sold at $3200 to $3800. A package of angus bred heifers showing up close sold at $3400.00. The light weight, thin bred heifers sold at $2800.00 to $2950.00 The middle-aged cows brought $2600.00 to $3200.00 and broken mouth bred cows brought $1800.00 to $2400 just depending on the size and how close they were to calving. The weigh cows were up a little again with a $1.42 on a top for a cow. The heifers and young cows going home brought up to $2.00 per pound. The pound bulls topped at $1.63.
Sunday was a catch up day for me at home, getting babies tagged and moved around to make room for more. I finally got to the barn by 1:30 but load out was pretty slow, even on hay. It was nice so I skipped out to go through the cattle around the farm. The cattle are sure getting along good this winter!
We have a good run of feeder cattle expected this coming Saturday. A couple of fancy groups of bred ewes, as well as another big run of hay again!
Have a dandy week!
1-21-25
It’s 14 degrees below zero here this Tuesday morning! It’s cold but dry and looking to warm up nice the next several days. We got through until Saturday last week before it cooled off the past few days. The cattle have taken it pretty good. It’s the normal weak battery, frozen tanks and a little fuel challenge, but for the most part it hasn’t been too bad to get everything fed and watered. The forecast has it warmer through the weekend and even up in the 40’s to start the last week of January off with!
Saturday’s saw a light run of hogs, but extremely strong fat hog market with numerous folks looking for good quality pork for the freezer. The fat hogs sold from $0.85 to $0.93 per pound. There were only 4 or 5 sows selling at $0.40 to $0.55 and 1 set of feeder pigs weighing 81lbs and sold at $58.00 per head.
The sheep and goat sale had over 450 head and sold at mostly steady prices with heavy lambs and ewes higher this week. The 50lb lambs sold from $3.10 to $3.40 a pound, 60lb to 80lb brought $2.50 to $2.90 per pound. The ewes mostly brought $1.05 to $1.27 and bucks sold at $1.20 to $1.50 per pound
The meat type kid goats from 50lb to 60lb sold at $3.60 to $3.92 per pound. Cull nannies sold at $1.00 to $1.05 and big billies brought $1.85 to $2.35. A couple spotted does up close to kidding brought $495.00 per head. A crossbred nanny with twice sold at $90.00 counting noses. Bottle dairy kid goats sold from $5.00 to $17.00 apiece. The bottle lambs brought $35.00 to $50.00. There was a good-sized crowd for the sheep and goat auction.
The outside sale was big this week. The hay run is at full throttle every Saturday right now. There was over 800 big bales and 1800+ small square bales, as well as, all the miscellaneous items made for a big outside sale. Derek is on vacation again so Colonel Richard Yoder came down to sell small squares and miscellaneous items. Richard is great young many that really handles his auctioneer in a professional, fluid manner. We are fortunate to have him assist and thank him for stepping into help!
The small square bales of hay sold from $2.50 to $6.50 this week. The straw brought from $3.00 to $4.50. The big round bales sold from $30.00 to $50.00 for net wrapped grass bales. A couple 3 fellas purchasing semi loads getting a good job done! Corn stalks net wrapped bales sold from $27.50 to $30.00 and wheat straw round bales brought $30.00 to $40.00. The big square bales were mostly $35.00 to $50.00, wet wrapped alfalfa bales brought $40.00, and the sorghum wet bales brought $17.50 per bale.
The cattle sale had 1345 head this week. The baby beef calves brought mostly $600.00 to $850.00. The dairy calves brought $200.00 to $450.00. The demand for feeders continues to push right along here in January! The top 350lb steers and bulls both brought $4.05 to $4.10 per pound and 500lb steer tops brought $3.10 to $3.42, 600lb steers topped at $3.05 to $3.16 and 700lb steers brought $2.80 to $2.97.
The heifers are also gathering strong market interest with 100% going to grow yards and feedlots. No heifers returning to breed this week. The 300lb heifers brought $3.85 to $4.000, 400lb heifers brought $3.20 to $3.40 and 500lb heifers topped at $3.00 to $3.16. the 600lb heifers brought $2.75 to $2.88 and the bulk of the 700lb heifers bringing $2.50 to $2.60.
The weigh cows are inching up just slightly. The top yielding cow peaked at $1.36. The feeding cows and young cows returning home brought $1.50 to $1.90. The big bulls topped at $1.62.
I had my first baby calf Sunday afternoon! A nice frisky heifer calf to start the year off with. I made the rest of them agree not to calved until Wednesday afternoon, so far it’s worked! It’s nice to be calving on dry grouping even though its cold, dry ground is a blessing at calving time! I would say by the time next week I will have quite a few new ones around.
We are expecting a good run of bred cows and bred heifers this Saturday. A very high-quality cow dispersal from Pat Walljasper, as well as a fancy set of 1st and 2nd calf heifers from Larry Schultes will be here. Two outstanding sets of cows to feature this week’s cow sale!
Have a dandy week and enjoy the January thaw later this week!
1-13-25
We have sure had a pretty week of weather! We missed all the snow and it has been cold a couple of days, but sunny and bright for the most of the past week! It looks to warm up in the 40’s later this eek before it tips over to go back to zero by next Sunday morning! We will be half through January this week with a dang nice Iowa weather for January.
Saturday had a very light run of hogs. The big sows were short in number and sold from $0.55 to $0.60. Fat hogs sold at $0.55 to $0.62 and sure felt like they want to move lower. We didn’t have any feeder pigs this week and expect a light run of them for at least a month.
There was 450 head of sheep and goats through the ring and the market seems stable for the moment. The 50lb lambs are still active at $3.30 to $3.80 per pound this week. The 80lb lambs were mostly $2.60 to $2.90 and the top $1440lb lambs sold at $1.65 a pound.
The kid goats held steady at $3.30 to $3.80 for 50lb meat types. The nannies sold at $1.40 to $1.60, and billies brought $1.60 to $1.90 a pound. We sold 15 head of nice dorper/Katahdin running age ewes that were very close to lambing at $300.00. The baby kid/dairy goats sold at $2.00 to $5.00 for white ones and $7.00 for colored ones. The baby lambs brought $20.00 to $35.00 per head.
The outside sale had a large run of both small bales and big bales. My outside auctioneer Mr. High asked for a 4 week leave of absence to attend EMT training, so Philip came to the rescue to sell outside this week! The small squares of hay topped at $7.00 a bale. The bulk of the hay sold from $3.00 to $5.00 per bale and the straw mostly sold from $3.00 to $4.00. Small square of cornstalks sold for $2.50.
The big rounds of the best alfalfa mix hay topped at $65.00. The best out of the barn, fancy, net wrapped, grass hay sold at $50.00. The bulk of the round bales would have been just $40.00 a bale. The wet wrapped alfalfa brought $45.00, and the wet rye and triticale/sorghum brought $15.00 to $20.00. The wheat straw bales sold at $25.00 to $40.00 and 4 bales of corn stalks brought $27.50. There was a big crowd out front with hay going as far away as 200 miles.
The cattle sale was nearly all cows this week. The baby calves sold for $200.00 on Holsteins and $600.00 to $850.00 on good beef calves. The February calving bred heifers brought $3050.00 and the April calvers brought $3200.00. Several groups of 3-4 yr old third period black cows sold from $3100.00 on the light end to $3600.00 on the better showing cows. Three middle aged black cows with 100lb calves brought $3550.00. A big crowd made for a full house for the cow sale this week!
The weigh cows inched up just a little more with a $1.40 top. The bulk of the cows sold at $11.15 to $1.25. The bulls topped at $1.80 to $1.60. This market will likely move on up as we get into February and March.
Last Wednesday, I went to Oklahoma City to the Cattleman Congress. There wasn’t any snow there Wednesday, but Thursday they had 4 to 5 inches! The Hereford pen show was on Thursday and an embryo sale at the hotel on Thursday evening. The pen show had good cattle again this year. The campion Pen of 3 bulls contained the bull that was reserve champion polled bull in Friday’s show. The sale at the hotel had a very active crowd of bidders on picking up the hottest, newest mating in the Hereford business. There were nearly 200 embryos averaged almost $1000 apiece and 7 separate rights to flushes sold at $8286.00 and 390 units of semen average $360 per unit.
Friday, I headed to the airport to head home. I watched most of the bull show there and made it home just after dark. It was a great trip to see some awesome cattle and catch up with Hereford breeders.
This week we will have another special feeder cattle sale, expecting 1000 head.
Have a dandy week!
1-6-25
Well, the winter storm missed us as it all went south of us. It was rotten down south and west of us for sure! The ice and heavy snow was hard on a lot of the country. Hopefully, as it went on east it wasn’t as bad! It’s about 10 degrees here on Monday morning with crystal blue clear skies. The ground is froze up, however, kinda rough in spots if I were to growl about it. It sure is a good early January day to feed and take care of stock. The forecast looks cold, like this and pretty low chance of snow until Friday now.
Saturday was the first sale of the new year and it was a good one. The hog market was very solid with 200 head! The fat hogs ranged from $0.60 to $0.68. The sows brought from $0.58 to $0.62 for over 500 lb sows. The light sows brought from $0.50 to $0.58. Big boars brought $0.04 to $0.06 per pound. Light boards were $0.38 to $0.40. A good set of 40lb feeder pigs only brough $21.00 a head as they were too light for roasters and the forecast of cold weather stopped feeder interest. The bigger 70lb pigs were still up to $0.90 per pound.
The sheep and goat sale had 500 head this week. The market is starting to ease up a little as usual. The better fat lambs brought $1.50 to $1.70 a pound. The 60lb lambs were solid at $3.50 to $3.80 a pound. The ewes sold at $0.90 to $1.20 and bucks were at $1.00 to $1.20 a pound. The kid goats sold at $3.25 to $3.60 for the fat meat type kids. The big nannies sold at $1.20 to $1.65 and big billies sold for $2.20 to $2.60 a pound. A couple packages of nice quality boer nannies exposed to bucks sold at $210.00 to $235.00 per head.
The outside sale was really loaded up with all kids of hay. The small square bales topped at $7.00 with several good quality stacks at $6.00 to $7.00. The average quality small squares of hay were more in the $3.00 to $5.00 range. The small bales of straw sold for $3.00 to $5.50. Big rounds of the better type grass bales sold at $50.00 to $65.00. Some average size alfalfa sold at $65.00 per bale. The wet wrapped sorghum sold at $15.00. Some nice alfalfa, high moisture bales sold at $42.50. Wheat straw round bales brought $30.00 to $40.00. Some out of condition dry rye bales brought $15.00. The lower quality round bales or smaller bales brought $25.00 to $35.00 per bale. The big square bales sold at $40.00 to $70.00 this week. There was only 1 pile of cornstalks bales this week and they brought $30.00 to $32.50. The hedge post market was $10.00 to $20.00 on lines and $20.00 to $30.00 on corners. There were several stacks of firewood that brought $10.00 per pile and a pickup load brought $100.00. Several other miscellaneous items kept Derek working until just after noon. Derek has really settled in, and is doing a solid job auctioneering out front!
The cattle sale was a dandy. The producers in the area really had the cattle in great shape for the sale. The feeders and order buyers were locked in to fill pens where a $2.00 per pound fat cattle are leaving! The veal calves sold from $350 to $500 for dairy and beef calves brought $550 to $900.
The light calf market saw 380lb bull calves up to $3.95 and 375lb baldie steers at $4.00 per pound. Some baldie steers just off the cows brought $3.225, 525lb black steers sold for $332.50, 619lb steers sold at $3.07, 679lb steers sold at $2.94, 708lb steers brought $2.88, 797lb steers brought $274.50 and 843lb balding steers calves sold at $2.70!
The heifers were just as active. The 403lb heifers topped at $3.65, 528lb calves at $3.10. Most mid 600lb heifers brought $2.60 to $2.75. The tops were a set of 612lb heifers at $287.50 and some 687lb heifers at $2.90. The 775lb was $2.59 on a single baldie heifer.
The weigh cows sold steady with a $1.34 top on a high yielding smooth cow. Most cows sold at $1.10 to $1.20. The bulls sold from $1.40 to $1.55.
I am proud of the crew around here this week. The flow was good all-day Saturday. Everything counted out and loaded out on the money. Everything handled safely on the cold ground. Bear in mind that the average age of the crew on the pen back side is barely 18! I believe in these kids and give them a chance and they can do and awesome job! I know these kids will do great things in their future as they go on into their journey of life! Even if they are frustrating at times!
The crew has been busy getting ready to start calving later this month. We will have everything moved home and most have been through the chute for anything they need prior to calving. The chores are just a little easier with the ground froze up!
It’s a special bred cow sale this coming Saturday January 11th.
Have a dandy week!!
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