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May 2024 05/07/24 3:07:00 PM
5-29-24
Memorial Day weekend sometimes brings a change in the weather. This year we have been wet and cloudy coming into the holiday weekend, and it has warmed up will into the 70’s. After the last rain event we have remained mostly dry with the expectations of a couple little spits on Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. The forecast was looking better, and dad always said you can’t bale if you don’t mow it, so I started mowing hay. I wanted to keep mowing hay, but the boys are holding me back thinking it may shower again! We will know by the weekend who was right! The forecast looks good with only a 40% chance Friday and another slight chance on Sunday or Monday, so I will hope for the best. The hay sure looks good right now and there’s a lot of it to get baled.
Saturday’s sale had a couple hundred hogs, 700 sheep and goats and 300 head of cattle. The hog market was higher with the top fat hogs selling for $0.65 to $0.70. Good outdoor sows weighing 500lb got as high as $60.50 by hundred weight. A few feeder pigs weighing 70lb to 90lb sold from $65 to $95 per head.
The sheep and goat market was solid again this week. The 60lb to 80lb lambs ranged from $2.30 to #6.65 a pound. The pound ewes ranged from $0.75 up to $1.00 on blk face ewes. The bucks were $1.05 to $1.25 a pound. Kids goats from 50lb to 60lbwere from $4.00 to $4.25 on the fat meat type kids. The 40lb to 60lb dairy cross kids brought $2.80 to $3.45 a pound. Big nannies were higher at $1.25 to $2.25 a pound and big billes were $2.20 to $2.30 a pound. We are expecting another big run of sheep and goats again this Saturday, June 1st.
The hay sale had small square bale ranging from $4 to $7.50 a bale. Big round bales sold from $70 to $140 a bale. I would sure call the bulk of the market $80 to $100 per bale. That’s new and old crop hay together. There was a big miscellaneous sale included flowers, plants, lumber gates wire and all kinds of other miscellaneous items.
The cattle sale had a good selection of baby calves selling from $450 to $850 per head on beef calves and $300 to $450 per head on dairy calves. We had 2 yearling angus bulls sold at $3000 each. There was an assortment of cow/calf pairs in this week’s sale. The middle sold from $2850 to $3350. Short term pairs were ranging from $2500 to $3000 depending on the size of the cows and calves. A couple packages of fall bred cows were selling from $2300 to $2450 for the middle aged black and red angus cows. The weigh cow market moved up another $2.00 this week, with the bulk of the market cows bringing $1.35 to $145. The bulls topped at $1.80 a pound, but most were $1.55 to $1.65.
This was the first time in over 6 months we were finished before 7pm! The crew was glad to get done early for a change and have time to enjoy the long weekend. We had a light day of loading on Sunday, so I jumped on the mower and mowed the hay behind the sale barn. I don’t usually like to start those kinds of projects on a Sunday, but the boys had the mower hooked up, new blades and every ready to go. So, I figured, what the heck, I just was well get to going. The good lord sue has a sense of humor. I brought the tractor to the field and turned the PTO on, and it would not turn the mower. I wanted to kill the tractor and it just seemed locked up. So, I got off examined the shaft, bar and everything and tried again. Nothing would turn. I called Ted and asked if had turned it on when servicing it? Ted said, “Oh yea it worked fine.” Well, I crawled under the mower and fiddled with it and found 2 bolts that had been replaced. I backed them up a couple of threads and it turned! Hallelujah! So, I headed back to mow again. I got to the field and my gauges on the dash weren’t working, so I was dinking around trying to get them to respond. I just gave up and decided to mow. I turned the PTO on and now it would not even engage. What in the heck is going on now!! So, I shut off the tractor and restarted it hoping that would work. Nope it didn’t work. So, I know almost nothing about these tractors. I grew up on an Oliver 88, OK, I went big time with an IH 560! Anyways, I started trying to find a setting on the computer that was related to the PTO. I blundered into the PTO setting and found it was in neutral! So, I adjusted that to 1000 PRM and the PTO worked just fine. So, now you understand why I don’t start these projects on Sunday! I promise you the good lord was laughing nonstop at my frustration with this project!
Well anyway, the hay is mowed and all is good. The hay is heavy and sure looks good. Hopefully the showers will hold off so we can get baled up this week.
Luke and Cody took their girls to Oklahoma for the week. It’s been nice down there and they have met several folks around the arena. They will return home on Friday.
We have a special feeder cattle sale coming up this Saturday, June 1st. The sheep and goat sale should be good quality and numbers as well. We even had new crop hay coming in as I write the news this week. We also are having a machinery sale Wednesday, June 5th. Be sure to check out the early listings for that as well.
Have a dandy week!!
5-20-24
We have been in a 4-day dry spell the past few days. Folks have gone back to the fields planting, making rye into silage or wet bales. They rye especially, has really grown and matured quickly as the warm weather has settled in. The same goes for the grass, as it has exploded and is ripening quickly. Our temperatures have jumped in the mid and upper 80’s the past 3 days. It’s been hot and we are supposed to remain very warm with the chances of rain Tuesday and into next weekend.
Saturday we had a good run of all classes of livestock. The hog market held steady this week. Fat hogs were $62.00 to $67.00. The sows were mostly $46.00 to $50.00. The feeder pigs sold from $0.80 to $1.00 a pound. The boars remain at $0.04 to $0.10 a pound.
The sheep and goat sale had over 600 head. The bulk of the lambs that weighed 60 to 80lbs sold at $2.35 to $2.60. We are not seeing any fat lambs go through. The ewes by the pound sold from $0.85 to $1.15 a pound.
The kid goats that weighed 50 to 70 lbs sold from $3.20 to $3.60 for the better meat types. Nannies sold from $1.20 to $1.70 a pound. A pen of fancy open does brought $300 to $350 per head. The big billies were $2.00 to $2.25 a pound.
The outside sale had several small square bales of hay selling from $4.50 to $8.00 this week. There was a short offering of big bales this week. Grass net wrapped bales brought $100 to $120 on the top. String tied and smaller round bales brought $25.00. I keep expecting some new crop hay to come in but so far it’s been only old crop hay. Philip worked through all the other merchandise in good shape again this sale. We had lots of flowers and plants starting to come every week now. Hanging baskets ranged from $7 to $8 up to $27.50 each. For a really nice day there was still a big crowd out front this week.
The cattle sale had beef veal calves selling from $400 to $850. The calves weighing 200lbs to 250lbs sold by the head up to $1050. The dairy calves sold from $300 to $450. The feeder cattle market continues to be very solid. Last week’s strengthening of fat cattle prices and futures moving up $4 kept the market good and solid. Three hundred pound steers sold over $4.00 a pound. Five hundred pound steers topped at $3.50 pound. Six hundred pound steers brought up to $3.15 and seven hundred pound steers brought up to $2.78. A load of 890lb steers topped at $239.50 per the hundred weight.
The heifers traded their normal range back of the steers. Three hundred pound heifers brought up to $3.50, four hundred pound heifers brought up to $3.27, four hundred pound heifers brought $3.27. The five hundred pound heifers topped at $3.12 and seven hundred pound heifers were up to $2.47
Weigh cows were very active again with 6 active bidders buying cows. Many of the top cows were selling $1.40 to $1.50 this week. The bulls topped at $1.95. One consigner sold 26 head of pound cows that averaged over $2000 per head. I still believe the market will go higher as we run out of cows to sell.
As we come to the holiday weekend and the last sale in May, we are going to have more pairs, bred cows and some good breeding bulls for turnout time. Come and take a look!
Have a dandy week!
5-14-24
The showers have continued to keep the area well hydrated this past week. In Keosauqua, we haven’t had as much as other areas, but weekly total would be just over an inch. The weekend was dry and planters ran hard Saturday and Sunday, however the showers shut them down again on Monday. Corn that’s up looks pretty darn good for all it’s been through. The girl’s sweet corn didn’t emerge the best and will likely replant it when the weather cooperates. The rain chance continues about every 3-4 days as we look into the forecast. The grass and hay look incredibly good at this time. The rye is going past 12 o’clock very quickly. I’m sure glad we let the heifer harvest ours this year!
Saturday had a large run of cows and a regular run of hogs, sheep and goats. The sow market came back to top at $0.50 this week. Fat hogs sold in the lower 60’s and feeder pigs sold higher with those 100lb pigs reaching up over a dollar a pound.
Sheep and goat market was fairly steady. The 60lb to 80lb lambs were $1.90 to $2.0. The heavier weights would sell at $2.00 to $2.40. The ewes mostly sold at $0.75 to $1000. Kid goats were $3.25 to $3.60 for 50-60lb and $2.75 to $3.00 for heavier weights. The nannies sold at $0.70 on thin dairy types and up to $1.35 on boer cross nannies. A doe with thin kids sold at $200 counting noses.
The outside sale saw small square bales selling from $4.00 to $8.50. The big round bales of grass hay saw a top at $125.00. Most bales sold from $75.00 to $110.00. Big square bales of second cutting alfalfa were $95.00 to $110.00. Big square bales of cornstalks were $7.50 per a bale. Time has sure run out on cornstalk bales. There was a big crowd out front for the miscellaneous auction. The hedge post market was steady even though we didn’t have as many as normal. All kinds of other items made for a good outside sale this week.
The cattle sale had over 1000 head and mostly cows this week. Baby calves sold from $400 to $700 again this week. The dairy type calves were $300 to $400. The biggest part of this week’s sale was cow/calf pairs and bred cows and a handful of breeding bulls. Bulls topped at $4000 on 2 yearling angus bulls, 3 head of Charolais bulls brought $3300, 2 red angus coming 2 year old bulls at $2800 and a couple of 2 year old Herefords at $3200 to $3500.
The cow/calf pairs were sold at $3000 to $3500 on mostly middle aged 5 to 8 year old pairs. Fall bred heifers brought $3000 to $3050. Running aged black cows due in September were selling from $2250 to $2750. The demand was steady all afternoon as buyers tried to outwait the market and ended up giving steady prices on the cows late in the sale. Weigh cows sold a couple dollars higher. The top was $1.46 on the best high yielding cows. The heavy good quality cows and full topped at $1.15 to $1.25. The big bulls ere mostly $1.50 to $1.75
Sunday was Mother’s Day. I’m not sure we stopped long enough to tell all the gals in our outfit, how much we appreciate all the do for all of us. They work tirelessly wrangling kids here and at home. They all have to take care of their own homes, as well as help with chores and the never-ending pile of paperwork and book keeping. We are truly blessed to have such a great group of mothers involved around here.
As of this afternoon we are finished up with spring AI and all those cows and heifers are on green grass! It’s been a good spring to get all the work done. We have not been too hot or cold and haven’t gotten soaked too many times these last 4 weeks. Let’s hope mother nature brings improved conception for this year’s crop!
The hay looks darn good as we get closer to the first cutting. If we can sneak in some nice warm, dry days, then we will get some nice hay this year.
We have a good run of feeder cattle coming this week and we are expecting around 1000 head.
Have a dandy week!
5-7-24
The past couple weeks are the busiest time of year for our outfit. We put a color-coded calendar together that gives us a map through the month of April into the middle of May. In this calendar are the dates and groups of synchronizing and breeding the 5G heifers and all the hereford cows. Most weeks in April are just processing for shots and CIDR’s. Once we start giving Lutalyse, the workload goes up! The Hereford heifers are the first in the line up and we started breeding them on 4-22 and 4-23. The cows at home were right behind them. The new protocol we used had them going through the chute 4 times in 3 weeks. The older cows at Ted’s followed and overlapped right into the first group of 5G heifers. As soon as we finish up a group we want them moved to grass. It’s best not to be hauling these girls at 8 to 21 days after AI, so we don’t shake any embryos loose. So, throw in a couple of big sales and a weekly rain event and it has been quite a hustle! We structure the calendar so we don’t have to sort or AI on Saturday. With the new 7&7 protocol in a group of heifers, we ended up having 82 head to breed on Saturday night after selling 1400 head of cattle! Luke, Cody, Ty and Justing had them sorted, as well as, the group that we needed to breed on Sunday morning. We started breeding at 8 o’clock after the sale and finished by 9:30. It’s sure good that we have a crew that likes to work!
Saturday sale had a good run of hogs. Fat hogs were higher, with the bulk of them selling at $63.00 to $68.00. The sows were lower at $38.00 to $43.00 on the heavy weights. Boars were about $3.00 to $6.00. Pigs sold at $63.00 per a head on 65lb pigs and $65.00 to 75.00 per head on the pigs closer 100lbs.
The sheep and goat market was lower. The 50 to 70lb lambs were from $1.85 to $22.35, the 80 to 90lb lambs were selling from $1.80 to $2.15 a pound. Ewes brought $0.75 to $1.10 and Buck were $1.00 to $1.20 a pound.
The goat market was from $3.00 to $3.80 for 50lb to 70lb meat type goats. Nannies were $0.85 to $1.20. Big Billies brought $1.75 to $2.10. A couple of does with young kids brought $90.00 counting noses.
The outside sale was loaded up with merchandise of all kinds again and had a very large crowd gathered around here. The small square bales of hay sold from $3.50 to $8.00. Big round bales were still very much in demand, selling at $100 to $180 for the quality bales. Big squares brought $90 to $120 on alfalfa bales. Rough stemmy hay got down to $25 to $50 per bale. Philip worked through all the miscellaneous and machinery pieces in good order again this week.
The cattle sale had 1400 head. The baby calves sold from $500 to $800 on beef calves and $150 to $400 on dairy calves. Feeder cattle demand was very solid this week. The nice 4 weight steers sold at $3.50 to $3.75 and 5 weight steers were $3.30 to $3.45 on a weaned green one. A very nice load of black steers that weighed 726lb brought $2.85. Heifer calves were just as strong accordingly. The 4 weight heifers topped at $3.25 to $3.40 and 5 weight heifers were $2.85 to $3.10 for the better kind. A package of low 6 weight heifers sold at $2.80. A load of heifers weighing 727lb brought $2.40 and a heavy load of 870lb brought $220.25.
Weigh cows are moving up again. The top cows were over $1.40 with a bulk of the better yielding cows selling at $1.30 to $1.38. The big bulls topped at $1.20 this week.
I delivered a load of bulls to western iowa last week. They have had a nice rain out there. It sure looks like there had been more planting done out there and lots of corn already out of the ground. I stopped and looked through a couple of feedyard pens on the way home. Those fellas are pretty optimistic about the cattle market and most were constructing more pens.
This week we will AI our group 3 heifers and give lutelyse to the last group on Friday. With some luck we should be finished by Wednesday next week! I believe the crew will be ready for that!
We have, what I think will be, the best lineup of pairs, bred cows and bulls coming this Saturday. A very outstanding herd dispersal of spring pairs and fall bred cows. Some good quality breeding bulls will also be listed. Come take a look this Saturday!
Have a dandy week!
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