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April 2025 04/01/25 1:53:00 PM
4-27-2025
The temperature has been up and down some the past week. We have been up to 80 degrees, but also fall off to the lower 40’s at night. We have dried off for the most part since the last rain and fellas are back to planting today. The forecast is calling for some storms west and north tonight into tomorrow, but it looks like it will mostly miss our corner of the state. We have another chance or 2 to catch a shower towards next weekend.
Saturday was a nice day for the sale. It was sunny, a little breezy and 70 degrees. It was my kind of weather for sure! The hog sale kicked us off as usual with a big run. The fat hogs were solid at $0.60 to $0.64. The sows topped at $0.55. Light sows were mostly $0.40 to $0.50. Boars over 350lbs were at $0.10 to $0.13. Light boars were up to $0.35. Feeder pigs were all over the board! Outside long tailed pigs were in highest demand! One group of 4 pigs weighing 38lb brought $100.00 per head in the fastly contested bidding! The next 4 pigs were just a little bigger and weighed 53lbs and the sold at $95.00 per head in another fast race! The 4 biggest of this same consignment weighed 78lbs and they finally brought $0.75 per head after Jimmy worked at it really hard. Now I get all kinds of questions every week, usually I have an answer. My answer to the question of, “Why did the little pigs outsell the heavier ones?” Well, I could answer it, but it would be totals BS! So, I will just say that things happen at the auction that you don’t have to explain.
The sheep and goat sale had a very solid run. Baby kids and lambs were both at $40.00 to $60.00. The 40lb to 65lb kids topped at $4.10 to $4.15 per pound. The 75lb goats were up to $3.20. Nannies were mostly in the $1.20 to $1.90 range with a couple groups over $2.00. Big billies were $2.10 to $2.40.
The lambs ranged from $2.30 to $2.85. Ewes by the pout were at $0.80 to $0.95. There wasn’t much in for bred ewes or ewes and lambs to trust the market.
The outside hay sale is into a seasonal slowdown in volume as area hay producers are eyeing the first crop of alfalfa that is coming right along! Small squares sold from $1.50 to $7.50. There was a pretty solid range of hay was from $3.00 to $5.00 for decent small squares. Big round bales were $30.00 to $45.00. Big squares sold at $50.00 to $65.00 this sale.
There wasn’t too many posts this week, but a wide variety of all kinds of other merchandise. It drew in a very large crowd for the outside sale. The yard scraper sold for $2500, the 4010 JD sold for $6000. Gates, wire, plants and a truck load of household items made up a large part of the outside sale.
The cattle sale had mostly cows this week. Baby calves sold from $850.00 to $1200.00 on the beef calves and we had at least 20 of them. After the baby calves we sold a few bags of natures spring treats! We had probably 15 to 20 quart sized Ziploc bags. Thos mushrooms brought $40.00 to $60.00 a bag! Several folks were involved at $20.00 to $30.00, but after that only those craving them the most won out!
Pairs sold at $3800 to $4250 for the nicer end. The older, very thing pairs sold at $2100 to $2650. The fall bred 5yr to 7yr old angus cows brought $3100. The feeder calf market was really active on 200 head of colored and black calves.
The weigh cows were fully steady with top slaughter cow at $1.60. The bulk of the cows were $1.45 to $1.50. Turnouts and feeding cows were at $1.50 up to $2.25. Big bulls were also steady at $1.70 to $1.96. There was over 200 head of weigh cows again at this sale.
We are moving through AI breeding and will finish the second group of Hereford cows this evening. All of them will be in the grass by dark! That’s always a great feeling! The weather has been great for getting this part all wrapped up. 5G heifers are up next and will get the first group to summer pasture before the weekend!
The feeder cattle sale coming this Saturday. Looking for 600 to 800 head and I sure hope there are more of those Ziploc bags!!
Have a dandy week!
4-22-2025
This week we received a nice 2 inches of rain over a very wide area! We were not in bad shape yet, but for us to go through April without a nice rain was going to make it a little bit uncomfortable! Our rain came on Easter Sunday which as a rule means we can get rain for the next 7 Sundays. That should keep things growing for the rest of the spring. There was a very large amount of crop planted the past 10-12 days. The ground worked good and it should be in for a terrific start to the growing season. Alfalfa is already over knee high and looks dang good if the bugs don’t get into it!
Saturday’s sale had a short run of hogs with just 200 head. The market was good with fat hogs at $0.60 to $0.68 and a couple at $0.70 on outside colored hogs. Sows sold at $0.40 to $0.58 but a very light test. Pigs were solid at $0.90 to $1.25 for all weights.
The sheep and goat market had 400 head. The market had order buyers and deals, as well as, a number of individual buyers making purchases also. Kid goats topped at $4.00 per pound while the bulk of them were mostly $3.00 to $3.75 per pound. Nannies were lower at $0.90 to $1.20 per pound. Billies were at $2.00 to $2.30 per pound.
The lamb prices seemed to be just a little lower with 50lb to 70lb at $2.30 to $2.60. There was no test on fat lambs. Ewes at $0.70 to $1.00 per pound with black face ewes at the top end.
The outside sale had a big run of hedge posts and an average run of hay. I sent Derek and Colby to start on miscellaneous items and I took all the hay and posts.
The small square bales ranged from $2.50 to $6.00. Big round bales sold mostly $40.00 to $55.00. The top of $70.00 on some nice alfalfa big square bales. The poor hay and small bales were $20.00 to $35.00. Wet bales were pretty much $20.00 to $30.00. The bale count is lower this week.
The hedge post market was good on the top-quality kind. It was $50.00 on some corners and $67.50 on a fancy stack of 8ft. The miscellaneous items sold strong to a very good sized crowd this week. Old wooden silage bunks at $100 to $200. The fire department surplus used chairs were $3.00 to $10.00, hand tools, lumber, metal and a lot of others kept them busy outside.
The cattle sale had very well over 1000 this week. The demand for feeding continues to be good with cash fats, low corn prices and higher futures fueling the feeder market!
The baby calves sold at $800 to $950.00. No bred cows or pairs much but will have a good run coming next week! Light weight feeder steers sold at $4.50 to $5.00 per pound. The five weight steers were as high as $3.00 and those low five weight heifers topped at $3.80. The highlight of the steer sale was the Jason and Kenneth Campbell steers. The all black load of 869lb steers sold at $3.00 per pound. These guys have sure done an outstanding job with their cattle over the years! Congratulations on a job well done! The heifer market was just as strong on lighter heifers and heavier weights just as well. As pens go empty, guys are filling them right back up!
Weigh cow sale had 130 head of cows and bulls. The market is moving right along as packers compete for their weekly needs. This is the very best time to sell cattle at auction with buyers giving more than they want to keep supply at the packing house. I looked back at prices a year ago and we are $15.00 to $20.00 per hundred higher now. The high will still most likely come in July and August unless a large area would happen to get dry!
We started AI’ing heifers Monday. The first group it felt like I had forgot how. My hands were cramping and I wasn’t getting along well. The evening went 180 degrees better! I rehydrated, took a nap and everything came back to normal! We sent the first group to grass and I hope to keep a steady flow out of here and into the grass over the next 3 weeks!
Have a dandy week!
4-15-2025
The new normal wind is blowing again today. Sunday was sure nice with little wind and highs up to 77 degrees. We had a very quick spit of rain blow through just at dark last night. I would not turn down rain anytime. Planters are running all around putting corn and beans in the ground. The ground looks really good and the dust is flying! The forecast looks to be very similar over the next week with a couple small chances for showers throughout the next 7 days.
Saturday’s sale had a very good run of all types of hogs. Feeder pigs sold mainly to roaster buyers at $0.90 to $1.15 per pound for all weights. Fat hogs were mostly at $0.60 to $0.65. Sows were at $0.57 to $0.62 for sows over 500lb. The light sows were $0.05 to $0.10 lower than the heavy sows. Boars were mostly $0.10 to $0.15.
The sheep and goat run was over 700 head. The market was mostly steady. Kid goats were over $4.10 to $4.30 per pound at 50lb to 65lb kids, lighter kids were at $3.00 to $4.00 per pound. Nannies ranged from $1.30 to $1.70 for the better kind. The bottle kids brought $20.00 to $85.00.
The lamb market was mostly $2.40 to $2.70. Cull ewes sold at $0.70 to $0.90 per pound. Bucks brought $0.95 to $1.10. Bred ewes were hair type and Southdown. Hair ewes ultrasounded safe and were 1yr to 5yrs old sold from $300.00 to $390.00 per head. The Southdown brought $275.00 per head.
The outside sale had a very large sale this week. Small square bales sold at $2.50 to $6.50. Big squares ranged from $35.00 to $70.00 this week. Large round bales saw wet rapped bales at $17.50 on rye and up to $35.00 on grass/alfalfa mix. Big round dry bales were pretty solid at $30.00 to $40.00 or a few 2nd and 3rd got up to $60.00.
A very large run of all kinds of miscellaneous were brought in for this week. I told Colby and Derek to start right in on the miscellaneous items and I would sell all the hay. They started just before 11am and went strong until just after 1:30pm. The building brought $2700, corn planter brought $2500 and the dump truck brought $8700. Hedge posts were $5.00 to $30.00 for lines and $15.00 to $40.00 on corners. Strawberry sets, trees, hammers, lumber, tin, yard sweeps, windows and wire were just a few of the items available outside. It was just one of those weeks where you saw everything out there for sure!
The cattle sale had baby calves in the $700 to $1000 range. Several groups of first calf heifer pairs that weighed 950lb to 1100lb for the pairs sold from $3800 to $4250.
Summer bred cows sold from $2700 to $3500. Fall bred cows were from $2700 to $3400. There was good demand for all classes of cows with calves or going to calve. Folks were looking for the factory! There was just a light run of feeder, with only 200 head. But a big run of weigh up cows! That market was higher this week with America’s Heartland Packing starting up and needing inventory! It has been several years since we have had a new plant start up. This on is closer than some being just west of St Louis. They will keep pressure on the weigh cow market as they ramp up to capacity.
We worked cows through the chute at home this morning for the 2nd round of synchronization set up. Cody is hauling manure like crazy and should finish up by tomorrow at home. We are seeding some bulldozer ground down. The crew that’s been picking up stick has pretty much had it with me! Hopefully we will get that project finished up this evening. We pushed out a fence row and hope to get the fence back in this week. That’s one of my most favorite things to do is get rid of trees and put new fence in. It makes a farm look so much better!
Still looking at calves for this Saturday’s sale. It’s building up to be a very nice feeder cattle special!
The next week will be another cow sale featuring pairs and bred cows and most likely a few breeding bulls.
Have a dandy week!
4-8-2025
A nice rain came through a big area and left right at an inch in 2 separate showers this week. It’s been cool most of the week and hovering around freezing at night. It looks like we will warm back up over the next few days and get back to the 60’s before the weekend. I did hear from a couple different fellas in southern Missouri and Kentucky that had way too much rain. There was 15 inches in parts of Kentucky causing massive flooding and severe structural damage! We are thankful for not getting that kind of rain. I wish those folks all the best as they wait for high water to recede.
Saturday was a really good sale. We had a large crowd and a big run of livestock. The hog sale had an active market with feeder pigs weighing 36lbs bringing up to $56.00, 60lb pigs bringing $75.00 and 90lb pigs up to $105.00. Fat hog market was solid at $0.60 to $0.63 and sows topped at $0.62 this week.
The sheep and goat market had a good run of almost 600 head. Bottle lambs sold from $25.00 to $75.00. Lambs from 50lb to 80lb ranged from $2.50 to $2.80 per pound. The higher prices were paid on the heavier lambs weighing 93lbs. The weigh up ewes were pretty much $1.00 to $1.30 per pound. The bucks ranged from $1.05 to $1.22 per pound. The kid goat market still had the top end bringing $4.05 to $4.25 per pound. Nannies sold from $1.30 to $1.55 per pound and billies were $1.50 to $2.25 per pound.
During the sheep and goat sale we had a nice crowd of close to 200 people. We polled the crowd with a few questions! We asked if anyone was here for the first time, and we had 3 people raise their hands. We asked how many people drove more than an hour to get here, and I would guess nearly half the hands were up. Then we asked How many people drove over 2 hours to get here and there was probably at least 30 hands up. Then we asked how many people drove 3+ hours to get here and there were still 8 hands raised up. My last question was who attended a sale here in 1986 or before (that’s the year we started) and there were at least 10 people that had been at the Keosauqua Sale barn before 1986! I like to check with our crowd occasionally to know more about them and how far they come to the sale. It’s been a while since I have asked and I was just curious again on Saturday.
The outside sale had a decent run of hay (rain slowed some of it down) and a large run of miscellaneous items kept the crew busy for a while. Small square bales of hay sold from $2.50 to $6.50. big round bales of hay felt like they were slightly higher this week. There was more hay at $40.00 to $55.00 and less hay at $30.00 to $35.00. Straw bales were up to $35.00 and big square bales of mixed hay were $30.00 to $55.00.
The cattle sale had over 1000 head. The baby calves sold from $750.00 to $950.00. The Holstein and shorthorn xbred calves brought $600.00 to $750.00. We had a few single middle-aged pairs brought $3400.00 to $3800.00. The feeder cattle market was active as even those light cattle under 650lb, cattle over 650lb were $0.07 to $0.10 lower. Steers weighing 340lb were $5.00 and 400lb steers brought $4.45. Ten head of 580lb black steers topped at $3.90 per pound and some 615lb steers topped at $3.57 per pound and some 706lb steers brought $3.13. Heifers averaging 395lb brought $4.00, 575lb heifers brought $3.33, 610lb heifers brought $3.08 and 700lbs brought up to $2.64.
The weigh cow market was steady on over 100 head of cows and bulls. The top slaughter cows were $1.45 to $1.55. Feeding cows and turnouts were more $1.50 to $2.00 on a few. The top bulls were $1.70 to $1.85.
I started delivering a few bulls this week. Calves in the pastures are sure looking good and enthusiasm for new genetics and strong markets have cattle producers in good spirits!
We are finished up with our spring calving Hereford cows as of last night! Cows and calves at my house are set to go through the chute today. We will process cows and start our synchronization protocol and process cales with their first round of shots. We stay busy in the springtime around here!
There is a really nice offering of pairs, spring bred, and fall bred cows consigned this week. Come on out and take a look!
Have a dandy week!
4-1-2025
April has arrived in chilly fashion in southeast Iowa. We were 33 degrees this morning and breezy! Saturday was warm and sunny and our change came Sunday with windy and colder temperatures. The forecast looks like cooler with higher only in the 50’s and chances of rain overnight and towards the weekend! Some folks would like to catch some more rain but personally I think we are in very good shape for now!
Saturday was another very good sized sale. The hog sale lead off again with an active crowd buying all classes of hogs. Feeder pigs and roasters continue to keep a strong pig market. Nearly all of the quality pigs were selling from $1.00 to $1.40 per pound. The fat hogs going to packers and locker orders brought $0.55 to $0.60 per pound. Big sows had very competitive bidding from 3 packers and a little bidding from folks butchering a couple or three of them. The sow market was $0.55 to $0.66 per pound.
The sheep and goat sale had over 700 head for the 2nd week in a row. The lamb market is steady but slipping lower. The top 60lb to 80lb lambs were still $3.00 with more of them at the $2.50 to $2.70. The 100lb lambs topped at $2.30. Ewes were lower at $0.70 to a few black face ewes at $1.00. Bucks were at $1.00 to $1.25 per pound. Bottle lambs ranged at $40.00 to $80.00 this week.
The kid goats at 45lb to 55lb would get to $5.00 per pound on the best fat meat kids. Nannies were more in the $1.10 to $1.40 per pound. There wasn’t much around for big billies. Bottle goats ranged from $7.00 to over $100 on the best boer kid! There was a very large crowd around for the sheep and goat sale, nearly 200!
The hay sale was very steady. Small squares ranged from $2.50 to $6.50 with the exception of a few light, coarse bales at $1.50. Straw bales at $2.50 to $3.50. Big rounds topped at $55.00 on some 2nd cutting alfalfa/orchard gras out of the barn. Several lots of hay sold from $25.00 to $40.00 per bale. Big squares brought $30.00 to $50.00. Round bales of straw and corn stalks sold from $20.00 to $30.00.
Hedge posts were steady on the quality post with 8ft lines hitting $75.00. Those straight well-trimmed post always have very good value at auction. Cattle sale had over 400 head of everything this week. The baby calf market was very solid on 25 head. Several nice calves from $850.00 to $950.00 per head. The lead off group of first calf heifer pairs weighing up towards 1100lbs brought $4000 per pair. Lighter cuts were $3650.00 to $3850.00. The 6-8yr old blk cows with month old calves sold at $3650.00. Older pairs were $2500.00 to $2850.00. The 3rd period cows were in good demand at just over $3000 for the better end. A group of 4-7yr old angus cows bred to Hereford bulls to calve September 1st brought $3000.00. A few feeders in the run showed continued, strong interest.
Weigh cows were in a very high demand. Younger looking black cows from $950.00 to $1250.00 sold at $1.90 to $2.25 per pound! Straight market cows were mostly $1.35 to $1.50 and bulls $1.40 to $1.80 on 35 head of old used bulls.
We had a big birthday party for Miss Ellie Sunday, as she turns 4 yrs old! Boy they sure have a big time when they all get together.
The crew was able to get another group of pairs worked yesterday and they are working a group for a neighbor today. Tomorrow we will be pulling cidr’s on the first group of Hereford heifers and putting in some cidr’s on the group of baldie 5G heifers.
Rachelle and I went to the Flying J at Wayland this morning for our vet services meeting out of Canton, MO. On the way down there this morning Layne called me. She says, “Grandpa, we had a set of red twins out of a heifer this morning!” I asked her if they were doing ok and if they were bull calves or heifer calves. She responded, “April fools day Grandpa!” That little snot got me good at 6:30 this morning! I will need to sharpen up a little more in the morning to keep up with these granddaughters!
We are having a nice special feeder cattle sale this Saturday! Come on out and take a look.
Have a dandy week!
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