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June 2025 06/12/25 10:09:00 AM
6-25-2025
Hot weather has settled in the past week. We have had highes in the 90’s and lows coming in the low to mid 70’s. Overnight we had 0.9 inch of rain and it cooled off pretty nice! Places west of here had way to much rain as 5-8 inches fell in areas west, across the lower two rows of counties in Iowa. I am thankful for what we received and hopeful the heavy rain doesn’t cause too much harm for those folks.
The forecast looks to be warm and summer-like with chances of rain several days over the next 7. I’m not sure whether to believe that or not! I looked at the extended forecast Saturday and it didn’t show anything until later this week. We changed hay mowers, and I had a nice patch of 2nd cutting alfalfa that was ready to go, so Saturday after the sale I went and mowed 30 acres of it. Generally, we will make big square bales off this type of hay. We had the baler through the shop and had it worked on. I was hoping to get use it with this hay to see that it would be good to go. Well Sunday the forecast began to show some chances of showers on Tuesday night into Wednesday. I was keeping an eye on it thinking, no problem we can get it. Monday morning I started getting the feeling the window of opportunity to get it was getting tighter, so I sent the tedder to scatter it out . It was windy, hot and sunny all day and I thought we had a chance, so we waited until 2 o’clock and started to rake know it was barely going to make it, but didn’t want it to get rained on. Ted took the big square baler to the field and made 4 bales and determined it was not going to bale yet. Colby was back and forth on whether to keep raking or quit. He checked it and thought with the wind and sun it would go before dark, so he finished raking. Ted went home thinking it was too wet. Colby went back about 7:30 for one last try and found it too wet. Tuesday morning forecast looks like rain is likely towards evening, so I started looking for a wrapper. I found one and they went with the round baler to get started. It plugged a couple of times early but to fight through that and keep baling. The wrapper arrived about 5:30 and we were gathering bales. Colby and Ted were fighting the dang baler, as it wasn’t liking our project. I encouraged them to get the other baler going earlier, but was met with “We will get it”. At about 5 o’clock a little shower came through and Colby took the baler back to the barn. At 6 o'clock Ted had him bring it back (the same machine they had been fighting). At about 7:30 they gave up on that baler and went and switched to the other machine. By 9 o’clock we had the hay all wrapped and equipment all put away. We had just barely missed two bigger rain showers on each side of us and I was thinking we should have waited and tried to bale it dry. When I got up this morning to the nearly inch of rain overnight, I was glad we fought through all the challenges and had it baled and wrapped. I like to think of these days as good character building days!
Saturday’s sale was hot and the run was a reflection of that. The hog market had sows high at $0.70 to $0.75. Fat hogs were also good at mostly $0.70 to $0.74. There wasn’t much for pigs, but a handful were in the $0.90 to $1.00 ranger at 80lbs.
The sheep and goats sold a little higher. Lambs weighing 80lb to 100lbs at $2.10 to $2.35. The lighter lambs with good flesh sold at $2.20 to $2.60. The ewes sold at $0.60 to $0.80. The 50lb to 60lb goats sold at $3.40 to $3.85. Nannies sold at $1.20 to $1.70. Billies weighing over 100lb sold at $1.90 to $2.40. The big wethers weighing around 100lb sold at $3.50 to $3.80. per pound.
The hay market was lower on small squares at $0.50 to $3.50. The big rounds of the best hay make it to $50.00. More hay sold from $35.00 to $45.00. The big square brought at $30.00 to $50.00. We have had some calls inquiring about new crop straw bales, but we haven’t seen any yet. They did cut a very nice patch of wheat north of town this week, so we may see something show up the next couple of weeks.
There were lots of miscellaneous items this week. Even in the heat there was an active crowd out front again. Derek and Colby worked through the inventory quickly to get everyone out of the heat.
The cattle sale was surprisingly active with the hot weather. The baby calves were still at $900 to $1100. The lighter 300lb and 400lb steers and bulls brought $3.50 to $4.30. The heifers that weight brought $3.40 to $4.00. 600lb steers got up to $3.65, while the heifers were at $3.45 for a top. The weigh cows were pretty much $1.55 to $1.65 on better yielding cows and cows returning home at $1.90 to $2.45. Big bulls topped at $2.14 per pound. We had a lighter run of cows with just over 50hd.
The greater Jefferson County Fair is going on this week at the fairgrounds in Fairfield, IA. I would encourage you to go and support our area youth in the local county fairs! These young folks will feed our nation in the coming years!
We have a regular sale this week to round out June.
Have a dandy week!
6-17-2025
Summertime is settling in here in southeast Iowa this week. Hot and humid is the story here for the last week. We had a tenth of an inch of rain last evening, but forecast was to see a big half. Ahead looks like hot and a drier week ahead. Corn and beans have really taken off with the warmer weather. Alfalfa is ready to cut the 2nd time, as soon as the weather straightens up. The clover in the pasture is having a stellar year for sure!
Saturday saw another bigger sale for June! The hog sale had over 200 head and sold steady to slightly higher. The pigs sold well over $1.00 per a pound for pigs up to 70lbs and heavier weights would sure get to the dollar per pound mark. The fat hogs sold $0.65 to $0.74 and better sows sold at $0.62 to $0.68 and big boars sold at $0.05 to $0.08 per pound.
The sheep and goat market had 540 head and was lower across all classes. The top 70lb lambs sold at $2.22. The bulk were at $1.80 to $2.00. A set of 97lb smooth white face lambs brought $2.40. Ewes by the pound were at $0.60 to $1.00 to a dollar per pound.
The goat market saw nice fat meat-type kids selling at $3.50 to $3.85 per pound. The nannies ranged from $1.30 to $1.80 per pound for the good stout healthy does.
The outside sale had small numbers of small squares selling at $1.50 to $4.50. The big rounds of good quality grass/legume mix hay was ranging from $45.00 to $62.50. The big square bales brought $30.00 to $55.00. Fruit trees were up to $90.00 for peach trees, hanging baskets sold at $7.00 to $25.00 and there were at least 40 of them! Hedge posts topped at $90.00 and all the better ones were from $40.00 and up. There was a lighter crowd out front on a nice day, but items sold good for the most part!
The cattle sale had a very good run of nice cow/calf pairs and fall bred cows. The baby calf market was solid at $950.00 to $1250.00 and a few 200lb calves sold at $1300.00 to $1550.00 per head. The younger pairs sold from $4100.00 to $4375.00. The middle-aged and older pairs brought $3600.00 to $4100.00. Fall cows 6yrs and older ranged from $2850.00 to $3350.00. The demand for cows continues to be very good. There was a light run of feeders and several weigh cows and bulls.
I’ve been loading a few yearlings out of the country the past week. As you drive through the country the crop sure looks nice and even in great shape to move into hot weather with. I read a little note last week that projected what was needed to change the cattle market. He said $3.00 fat cattle, $3.00 corn and $3% interest! There’s sure a lot to happen for the market to reach the 3’s across the board, but the corn crop is sure doing all it can to get in line.
It looks like we will have a few feeder cattle again this week. I would sure expect this fall to be a really good time to have some yearling cattle to sell, so come take a look on Saturday!
Have a dandy week!
6-11-2025
The last week has been somewhat cooler than usual, but really nice! We had a darn nice 2 inch rain here that evening of the machinery sale. The forecast was for it to get stormy about 6pm or right in the middle of the sale. Becky, Colby and Rachelle got busy and made a slide show of all the items and a sale order to follow with and we moved the auction inside the sale barn. I wasn’t very much in favor of it, but when it started pouring about 30 minutes after we started, that roof over head felt awfully good! I think everything sold just as good inside, as it usually does outside driving down each line of equipment.
Today the heat turned up over 90 degrees. Yesterday morning it was just a flat 50 degrees! The forecast looks to stay warm with some chances of light showers over the next few days.
Saturday’s sale turned out to be a darn good sale. The hog market was strong across all parts. Sows sold in the mid $0.60. Fat hogs were mostly $0.64 to $0.68 and feeder pigs were over $1.00 per pound.
The sheep and gat sale had 650 head and a lower trending market. The 60-80lb lambs sold from $1.80 to $2.30. Heavy lambs were at $1.75 to $2.00. Ewes sold at mostly $0.75 to $0.90. The bucks sold at $0.85 to $1.00 per pound. Kid goats were in the range of $3.50 to $4.00 for the 50-60lb meat kids. Nannies brought $1.65 to $1.90 and 4 does with 6 kids brought $130.00 counting noses.
The outside sale had a big summer run on hay and miscellaneous items. Small squares of hay sold from $2.00 to $5.00. big rounds of new crop net wrapped hay sold at $45.00 to $55.00 for full size bales. Out of condition, old crop and wet bales were $10.00 to $30.00. Derek and Colby had a big run of all kinds of miscellaneous items. I sold all the flowers and plants for them and it still took over 2 hours for them to get done! There was a big crowd and a heck of a sale this week out front!
The cattle sale had over 1100 head. The baby calf market was $1000 to $1300 on the best. Several calves sold at $800 to $1000. There wasn’t much for pairs of breds until June 14th. The feeders were good all afternoon as a nice supply of local quality cattle gave feeders a chance to refill some pens. The top 375lb heifers brought $4.70, 450lb were at $3.91, 530lb at $3.80, 648lb rwf heifers tat $3.27 and a load of 786lb brought $2.98. The steers topped at $5.10 for 40lbs, 506lb brought $4.10, 595lb at $3.91, 680lb at $3.61 and 810lb at $3.20. A great group of consignors around this week, made for a showcase of awesome cattle, purchased by an outstanding group of buyers! The weigh cows were lower with better cows at $1.60 and $1.70. Average cows brought $1.50 to $1.60. Bulls still topped at $2.10. Look for the market to get stronger in a couple weeks.
Keep a sharp eye pealed on your cows and calves this summer. The tick populations are very high in some pastures and they can spread a new (to the USA) disease called Theileria. Theileria was first found in the east coast in 2017, carried to America by an Asian Longhorn tick. When an infected tick bites a bovine for a blood meal, they can pass the protozoa to the host. The protozoa then attacks red blood cells in the cattle and will make them anemic, lethargic, pale and can cause death. Theileria has not been found in any other species except for cattle. There is no known or approved treatment for the disease currently in the U.S. The best option is to prevent ticks from getting on the animals. Products being recommended include fly tags, Ultra Saber pour on, Longrange and Dectomax Injectable.
This disease is very new to the area and the information that is available is somewhat vague. The big thing I would encourage producers to do is treat for ticks and keep the load to a minimum and if you see something that resembles Anaplasmosis, see if you can get them blood tested to check for Theileria. This dang tick os a bad one, they are only females, meaning they self-reproduce or essentially clone themselves and they lay 3000 to 8000 eggs at a time. Be on guard and watch for them!
We have a great run of spring pairs and fall breds, as well as, an awful nice group of breeding bulls for this week’s sale. Come take a look!
Have a dandy week!
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