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October 2021 10/05/21 3:38:00 PM
10-25-2021
Harvest rolled along at a very steady pace this past week. Sunday was a day of rest as it rained nearly all day! Two to three inches of rain soaked our area up really good. Colder temperatures also moved in with a high today of just 57°. It kinda feels like Halloween weather now! The forecast calls for another rain event from Wednesday thru Friday then clearing off going into November. We still have not had a frost yet looks like November 1st will see a low of 30°. The harvest will not take very long to wrap up for this area. There are just a few beans left out and maybe 30% of the corn.
Saturday had a great big run of hogs again! Fat hogs sold at $55 to 64. Sows sold from $60 to 63 weighing over 500 pounds and lighter sows brought $50 to 60. Pigs sold at 70 to 80 cents a pound weighing up to 90 pounds.
The sheep and goat sales had a big run as well this week. Lambs were higher with 60-pound lambs mostly $3 to 3.29 a lb. and 90 pounds lambs at $2.50 to 2.55. There was not much for fat lambs. Cull ewes ranged from $1 to 1.17 a lb. Bucks brought from $1.20 to 1.30 a lb. The goat market is mashing the gas peddle again! 55-pound kids hit $3.62 a lb. or $200 per head and some 80-pound kids were at $2.82 a lb. Cull nannies were at $.185 to 2.15 a lb.
Col. Logan Wells handled the outside auction duties like a master this week! Small bales sold from $3.50 to 6. Big round bales sold from $55 to a $70 top. Straw in big round bales sold from $29 to 40. The post market was good as well with lines up to $37.50 and corners at $40 to 45. Rabbits sold from $2 to 7 and pumpkins at $1 to 5. A nice pile of fresh cut lumber brought $500. Great job Logan, thanks a bunch.
The cattle sale had black veal calves up to $350 and Holsteins just $35 to 45. A handful of running age pairs brought $1300 to 1500 and a few bred cows ran from $825 to 1275. Feeders were fairly steady on a light run. Weigh cows are trying to get lower, however active competition with six cow buyers kept them relatively steady. Fat cows held in the $70’s up to $78. Lot of cows were in the $55 to 65 range and low yielding, or weaker cows were under $50. Bulls sold mostly in the $80’s.
The past week led me back to Kansas City, MO for the Annual American Hereford Assoc board meetings. We started Wednesday at the Loews hotel in downtown Kansas City. We met thru Thursday as a board working on Association business. Fridays meeting had members invited into the educational forum. Dr Tom Field from the University of NE lead off the session. Kevin Good from Cattle Fax shared insight of the market and his markers that indicate a stronger beef market over the next year to five years! The afternoon session had Scott Bennett from VA, a fellow Hereford breeder who is an American Farm Bureau lobbyist in DC. We closed with a Merck Vet that related new protocols for vaccinating calves. Attendance was good and the information was top drawer! I sure couldn’t do Scott Bennett’s job in DC but thank goodness we have him representing ag out there!
Saturday was our annual meeting and election of new board members. Attendance was big with over 450 people this year! The Hereford female sale at the American Royal followed Saturday afternoon, so most folks went to the sale or watched the Jr Show at the Royal. I stayed for the open show on Sunday and kinda followed the rain back home. I got in about 7:30 Sunday evening.
A big thank you to the boys, Jim, Logan and all the crew. The buyers and sellers that allow me the time to go to those meetings! I don’t think anyone even realized I was gone this time!
A special feeder cattle sale coming up this Saturday and November 6th will be our customer appreciation sale!
Have a Dandy Week!
10-18-2021
We dried out after all the rain last week and it has turned off about as nice of an October as we get in SE Iowa! There is no wind, lows down in the 40’s and highs in the low 70’s, which is perfect weather for me. The skies have been mostly clear after last week’s showers. The forecast calls for a very pretty week ahead with dry conditions and temperatures pretty steady thru next weekend. The bean cutters went back to work Sunday afternoon in this area and with good running there will be very few beans left by next week.
Friday evening Gov Reynolds was in Van Buren Co for a visit and pep assembly. Supper was ribeye steaks sandwiches with slaw, potato salad and beans. Tea, lemonade, and water to drink and ice cream for dessert. Nearly 200 people were in attendance for supper and the speeches. We are lucky to have our Governor thru these times to keep our state running while other states shut down and use up taxpayers money to keep their folks from going hungry. Iowa has and will continue to be a leader in the nation at getting the country moving again. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the citizens of our State. Lord knows it has not been easy for you and your staff!
Saturday was the standard 500 head hog, 500 sheep and goat and 780 cattle sale. The hog market was very steady with a fancy set of big sows bringing $70. Butchers sold from $55 to 58. Feeder pigs were around 70 cents a lb. when weighing over 60 pounds. Lighter pigs sold up to 80 cents a lb.
The sheep and goat sales were very steady as well with fancy kids weighing 50 to 60 pounds bringing $3 to 3.10 alb. Nannies sold from $1.50 to 1.80 a lb. and billies were mostly $2 a lb. Lambs were very steady this sale as well. $3 a lb. on a handful of fat 55-pound lambs. The middle weights brought $2.50 to 2.80 and fat lambs were at $2.20 a lb. Ewes were $1 to 1.10 a lb. and bucks were about the same. A couple of fellas were absent from the sale, so Bobby and I covered the orders for the missing.
So, with me having to watch the sheep sale that left Logan to sell everything outside. He does such a great job out there nobody even misses me going out anymore! He said the crowd was great and the market was very good on almost everything. Square bales of hay sold from $3 to 7.50. Big round bales sold from $35 to 62.50 and net wrapped wheat straw brought $45. The old Powder River chute brought $1900. Mums sold from $5 to 15.
The cattle sale led off with baby calves selling $100 to 200 for beef calves and $40 to 85 for dairy calves. A few bred cows drifted in and most just sold by the pound. Interest in those odd bred cows coming thru is sure limited at this time. Feeder cattle on the other hand were in good demand all afternoon. Black white face steers weighing 385 pounds brought $2.03, black white face steers weighing 431 were at $2.01, black white face steers at 465 pounds brought $1.98 and some weighing 553 pounds brought $1.65. A single black steer weighing 715 pounds brought $1.52 and three steers at 828 pounds brought $1.45. Heifers weighing 318 pounds brought $1.78, 440-pound Charolais heifers brought $1.61, 538-pound black heifers brought $1.53, and a single 700-pound heifer brought $1.48. Weigh cows were off slightly over the last week. The top cows were in the lower $70’s and several were in the low $60’s. Bulls topped at a dollar a pound. Most were bringing $85 to 95. We had 25 head of weigh bulls this week and 95 weigh cows.
Sunday, I had chored and got to the sale barn by 7:30 and was helping Colby load out when I got THAT CALL! You have red white face heifers out on the deer hunter. Boy, that strikes a nerve every time! I took off to see how bad the girls had molested those precious food plots this year! Lucky for me only two were on the wrong side and the came right back thru the gate even though there was a brand-new hunting tower smack dab in the middle of the darn gate. I wanted to hook on to it and jerk it down but took a breath and counted to ten and left it alone. It could have been much worse, so I am very thankful it wasn’t a big deal!
Have a Dandy Week!
10-11-2021
It has been very dry here over the past week and really warm for October. We have been in the upper 70’s and low 80’s for highs and 60’s for lows and dry. After a few days of building some humidity and some east wind, we received two inches of rain last night. It showered off and on all day Monday and soaked things up pretty good. The forecast calls for drying off tomorrow, then more rains coming on Wednesday. Cooler temperatures into the weekend and the long range looks really good again. The harvest was rolling right along in this area the past couple of weeks. Both corn and soybeans are coming out. Yields on the corn are running way high to way low. The early corn seems to be pretty darn good. The late corn in the flat and the corn that took hail damage is sure not very good. Everywhere soybeans seem to be really good with more over 60 bushels than under 50 bushels so far! There is a long way to go yet, but for the most part this area has a fairly good crop coming in.
Saturday had 550 hogs, 550 sheep and goats and 350 cattle. The hog market was steady on big sows with a $68 top. Light sows were mostly in the low 60’s. Fat hogs sold from $55 to 65. Pigs sold from 70 to 95 cents a lb. on a big range of sizes.
The sheep and goat sales were sure strong again this week. Lambs weighing 60 pounds topped at $2.85 to 3.10. A fancy group of 72-pound lambs brought $2.56 and a top set of 89-pound lambs brought $2.48 a lb. There was a group of lambs weighing 91 pounds that brought $2.55. Ewes sold from $1. to 1.10 a lb. Kids goats weighing 50 to 60 pounds were at $3 to 3.25 a lb. Big kids weighing up to 80 pounds had a $3 a lb. top. Nannies by the pound sold from $1.70 to 1.95. Big billies sold over $2 a lb.
The outside sale was light on hay this week. Small squares of wheat straw sold from $3.50 to 6 a bale. Hay sold from $3.50 to 6.50. Big round bales sold from $30 to 55 with most selling at $40 to 45. Big squares of 2nd or 3rd cutting hay with some alfalfa in it brought from $42.50 to 50 a bale. Hedge posts were in normal demand this week. Even had a post buyer from Eldridge IA, 3 hours away this week! Logan had school this week, so I sold everything this week! I mean everything! Mums by the 100’s, puppies, lumber, tools, creep feeders, a portable building and boxes of misc. that I have no idea what was in them!
The cattle sale had something for every kind of buyer, unless you needed a load of one kind! Baby calves sold from 35 to 100 on dairy calves, $150 to 325 on beef calves. A few middle-aged pairs brought $1600 and some older second period cows brought $1250. The feeder market was mainly small groups and singles, bulls and dairy or longhorn cross breds drifted in as well as every weight from 250 to 1150! Weigh cows were slightly lower. The better yielding cows were $67 to 76, the middle cut of cows $55 to 65. Bulls were pretty much $80 to 95.
The boys managed to get the pasture roping in on Sunday afternoon. They did a round robin with each header roping with each heeler. It made for a good roping with nearly 100 runs in the first round. The ten fast times came back in the short go and the fast time on two head won the roping. Justin Page and Tate Snider were the winners, I think the neat thing about the round robin is those two fellas had never met until they roped together Sunday. Chances are they might not have entered up together in a regular pick your partner type jackpot. After picking op $640 each Sunday afternoon they were best friends! The girls put together an evening meal for the crew after Lauren’s baby shower and the roping was over. It was sure a beautiful evening to spend outside with everyone.
A special feeder cattle sale this Saturday.
Have a Dandy Week!
10-4-2021
Most of last week was hot! Finally, by the weekend we cooled off with a front coming thru. We were forecast for a nice rain, but that sure didn’t happen. Cooler temperatures with highs in the 70’s and lows in the 50’s for much of the week ahead. We are not to dry but it sure wouldn’t hurt to catch an inch to germinate the rest of our rye and some seeding, knock the dust off everything and freshen up the grass. We will see what the rest of the week brings, maybe we can sneak a shower in later this week.
Saturday turned into a busy sale day again. The hog sale had over 400 head with bigger numbers of feeder pigs. Light pigs weighing 31 pounds brought $39, a nice cut of 50-pound pigs brought $38. A big group of 65-pound pigs sold at $50.50 and some weighing 86 pounds brought $61. Butchers were steady at $56 to 58. There were not many sows in this week’s sale, the market was higher with a $66.50 top on some weighing 627 pounds. Big boars ranged $16 to 17 and light boars brought $41.
The sheep and goat sale had a big run also with almost 500 head. The top 50-to-60-pound kids sold at $3.40 a pound. A good set of 69-pound kids sold at $3.20 a lb. and a top set of 80-pound kids brought $3.05 a lb. Cull nannies sold at $1.85 to 2.25 a lb. Replacement does sold from $285 to 360 per head.
A light run of small square bales that sold from $4 to 5.50 per bale. A larger offering of big bales this week with very sold demand. $70 was the top on round bale with the majority bringing $45 to 55. Rye bales sold at $25, and some big round bales of wheat straw brought $50. Big square bales of 2nd & 3rd cutting hay brought $60 to 67.50. The hedge post market was a little different than last week! The top lines sold at $29, and the top corners brought $45. Mums were steady at $6 to 10.
The cattle sale had over 700 head with an equal number of calves and a light run of yearly type cattle. The calf market was active on some very nice quality black and black white face calves. Some 413-pound steers brought $198.50, some 490-pound steers brought $1.85 and some black steers weighing 568 pounds brought $1.68. Heifers sold from $1.45 to 1.60 weighing in the 400-to-500-pound range. Weigh cows topped at $77 with lots of cows in the $60’s and low 70’s. Bulls topped at $96 with most selling from $80 to 94.
Sunday was the day picked to hold the two oldest granddaughters birthday party. Hattie was born on Oct 7th and Layne was born on Nov 9th. They have a cousin that was also born in October, so they all celebrated birthdays on Sunday. When our boys had a birthday, nobody knew it, boy times have sure changed over the last 30 years! It was fun to see them all have a big time for a few hours. I went back to work after the main par of the party was over.
October marks the start of the new year for our Big Bend Ranch heifer program. We received the first group of heifer calves this morning. The bred heifers sure look good this year and will be ready for the sale coming up Wednesday December 8th.
This week we will have pairs and some bred cows as well as a 5 yr. old Red Angus breeding bull.
Have a Dandy Week!
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