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July 2022 07/05/22 7:54:00 PM
7-25-2022
Boy, it was horribly hot & humid here last week. Highs were up to 100 some days and humidity in the 80 to 90 percent. Saturday was about the worst day of the week which sure made it a challenge to manage a big run of hogs in town. Cooler temperatures arrived Sunday and really made it nice here Monday with highs in the 70’s. We are not as dry as some places, but we could sure use a nice rain in the next day or two! Yards and pastures have stopped growing and are browning up. Corn still looks really good, but a good rain would sure help it. The forecast has only very small chances over the next few days so hopefully we can grab a nice shower!
Saturday was a nasty day to handle livestock. Heat and humidity created all kinds of challenges. The crew did a great job getting stock spread out and cooled down. We got along really well getting everything moved in and out of the market. The hog market saw fat hogs from $60 to 75 and sows up to a $76 top this week. One group of red waddle pigs averaged 77 pounds and brought $64 per head.
The sheep and goat market had a lighter run, but the market moved higher this week. 50-pound lambs were back up to $1.80 a pound and 80-to-95-pound lambs brought $1.10 to 1.22. Fat lambs ranged from $95 to 1.05 a lb. Ewes ranged from $75 to 88 a lb. Kid goats sold from $2.40 to 3.00 a lb. this week and nannies were $95 to 1.35.
The outside sale was hot, the temperature was hot! Logan was on hand to sell machinery and misc. items. Boy, was I glad he made it! D17 AC tractor sold at $3750, manure spread brought $450, mulcher was at $900, and the hay trailer brought $1500. They hay market was steady with small squares selling mostly $3.00 to 6.50. A little common straw was at $1.50 to 2.00. Big round bales of new crop hay sold from $50 to 80. Big squares of old crop grass mix hay were at $35 to 40 and new crop 2nd cutting alfalfa was at $80. There was still a very good-sized crowd out front for as hot as it was!
The cattle sale was light. Baby calves sold from $50 to 300 and there was not as many around this week. A pretty light run of feeders. Weigh cows were off a little more as dry weather cows are crowding the market lower. The bulk of the cows sold from $70 to 80 with a top of $99. Bulls were $80 on the light and a top of $1.10.
I left the boys to finish up second cutting hay last week and ran to Louisville KY for the Hereford Jr National on Thursday and Friday. The crop sure looks good all along the route from here to St Louis and on to Louisville. A big turn out of kids and Herefords at this year’s event 1300 cattle, 700 kids from 39 states! Quality cattle were sure on display at this year’s show, boy they were good! Champion horned heifer in the Owned division of the show came from Kinnick Paulsen from Preston, IA! Pretty awesome accomplishment for Kinnick and his family congratulations! Several Iowa exhibitors brought home awards out of this years event. Congratulations to all of them on representing Iowa in such a strong way!
We started off this morning pregnancy checking heifers. The first set had three open out of 42 head which had me real excited but by the time we finished I was back to 14% open, which is about normal. One set of purchased heifers was really bad that sure tipped my average. The AI percentage was sure high, so I hope that continues thru our commercial heifers over the next few weeks.
The Van Buren Co Fair wraps up this evening with the 4-H sale. They will have a nice cool evening for the auction rather than the hot nasty conditions of last week. Kids get to walk their livestock thru the ring as it is being auctioned off and you will see all kinds of emotions tonight. Some will be elated they cashed out their projects and look forward to reinvesting in net year’s projects. Other kids will be heartbroken that their project has come to an end and have not thought about next year just yet. Baxter Black reflects on the importance of 4-H and FFA projects and the future of feeding the world. Take a couple minutes and watch the video and listen to Baxter’s comments, they really have strong meaning to what is going on here in rural America!
Special feeder cattle sale next Saturday.
Have a Dandy Week!
7-12-2022
The good Lord blessed us with some very vice rain last week. We received close to two inches over three days. It stayed cloudy and cooler, so every drop soaked in, it was very much appreciated! This week has started off really nice with temperatures topping in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s at night. Most of the week is forecast to be like this into next weekend and then it may warm up a little.
Saturday was a regular sale. The hog sale had a large run of sows and butchers and the most explosive sow market I believe in history! Good sows across the corn belt have been mostly $65 to a few $75 sows. After the holiday weekend, a couple of packers were caught short of inventory and stepped up at the sale to get a hold of some inventory. The first three bigger sows in the ring weighed 518 pounds, Jim started them at $60 and they quickly went to $106. The next set of three sows weight 735 pounds set an all-time high of $1.38 a lb. then the market went crazy! Sows sold from $1.60 to 2.07 the rest of the morning and it didn’t matter what they weighed. Every group in moved up ten to twelve dollars a hundred. This kind of market only happens at the auction. You can never generate a market like this at a private sale only by auction. As livestock supplies become tighter, we will see more of this in the auction in the years ahead!
The sheep market has hit the summer melt down! 60-to-80-pound lambs sold from $1.50 to 1.85. Heavier weights were $1.30 to 1.50 a lb. Weigh ewes sold from 75¢ to 93¢ and big bucks sold at 95¢. Goats weighing from 50 to 70 pounds sold from $1.85 to 2.85 on the top end. Nannies ranged from $89 to 1.00 a lb. Big billies brought from $1.90 to 2.25 a lb. We are taking some calls looking for nice does to breed this fall and expect interest to remain strong. Watch for our upcoming breeding stock sheep and goat sale.
The outside sale was good this week with a little less inventory. The hay market was $2.50 to 5.50 on small square bales. Big round bales sold from $35 to 65 with most at $45 to 55. Big square bales sold at $50 to 55 for mostly grass hay. A light offering of hedge posts had lines at $3 to 10 and corners at $15 to 25. The dog sale was better as all seven dogs had new homes at the end.
The cattle sale had 350 head featuring 140 head of light green, mostly black steers. I took the call Friday late morning that these steers were on the loose and he was wanting to get them sold. Savannah and I went and looked at them right after lunch. They had gathered a few over 100 of them into a corral but still had over 30 head on the loose. By 3, I got the call that they wanted a crew and trucks and was going to send them to the sale. Luke, Cody, Ted, Colby, and Savannah took three trailers and a load of horses down about 5 o’clock and by 9:30 all were caught and loaded on trailers headed to the barn. The top cut averaged 690 pounds at $1.84. A big group weighed 597 and sold at $2.07 and a cut at 525 pounds brought $2.14 a lb. There was very strong interest in these cattle on very short notice. Weigh cows and bulls were steady with the past couple of weeks.
Sunday, I went over to the Lee Co Fair to evaluate the open carcass steers. Any time I try to guess what is under the hide I usually get embarrassed. This show/contest has been going for 55 years! Area producers bring in their fed cattle and are evaluated on foot as well as getting the individual carcass information back from the packing house. Cattle were weighing from 1050 to 1600-pound steers and heifers, colored and black in the mix. It made for interesting sorting for sure! The final data will be in by the end of the week, so if I have egg on my face Saturday, you will know where it is from!
The boys are treating a few eyes and feet in the pastures. We are pulling bulls out of pastures most every week now and the first pregnancy check dates are coming up at the end of the month.
Boys are putting on a Ranch Rodeo at Memphis on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at the fairgrounds come enjoy the evening.
Have a Dandy Week!
7-5-2022
The past week welcomed July in. After the past two days of nasty hot weather, welcome is a poor choice of words! Low 90’s yesterday and right near 100° today, makes it more uncomfortable than Haties! Hopefully these two very intensely hot days will moderate into the end of the week. A nice rain fell across much of IA, IL, MN & WI yesterday. We missed it, as it all went north. It sure would be all right to catch an inch or so over the coming week. The forecast looks like some chance but not a very high percentage so, we will just wait and see what happens.
Saturday saw a nice gathering of people and a pretty good run for the holiday weekend. Fat hogs ranged from $68 to 75. Sows sold from $65 to 70 on the heavier weights and $55 to 64 on the lighter weights Feeder pigs were pretty much all over a dollar a pound up to $1.25 a lb. Active interest in all parts of the hog sale this week.
The sheep and goat market had 551 head in this sale. The market has eased up off of the spring highs. The better light lambs from 60 to 80 pounds sold from $1.75 to 2.10 a lb. 107 pound lambs sold at $1.60 to 1.70 a lb. Ewes sold from $80 to 1.10 a lb. Kid goats sold just over or under $3 a lb. for good quality meat goats. Nannies sold mostly $1.00 to 1.40 a lb. Billies brought from $2.10 to 2.25 a lb.
The outside sale had a very large run of misc. items and a good sample of hay. Small squares of hay sold from $2.50 to 6.50 a bale. Big squares of grass mix hay brought $40 to 55. Round bales of new crop hay that was net wrapped sold from $55 to 75. Old crop hay brought $35 to 45 for net wrapped. The hedge post market was a little soft on very marginal quality posts. A bigger pile of sawed 8- and 9-foot posts that had been planted once sold at $20 to 25. The two best corners brought $40 each and most line posts sold from $5 to 10. I sold all the horticulture again this week. Hanging baskets sold from $5 to 15 with most at $8 to 10.
Logan had a big day selling from 11:00 to 1:45 this week! There was a lot of items for them to work thru including a few pieces of machinery, used metal gates, steel posts, wrenches, nuts, bolts, screws, and the kitchen sink again! I am not 100% sure but I think we might be selling some of the inventory a second or third time over the past couple of years.
The cattle sale had a few over 300 head in the run. Baby calves ranged from $75 to 150 on dairy and $150 to 350 on the beef calves. Not much for bred cows or pairs but we did sell a good K7 Hereford bull for $3000. A few small packages of yearlings and some new crop calves made up the feeder run. 320-pound black steer calves brought up to $2.20 a lb. Most of the five weight steers sold from$2.00 to 2.10 and some seven weights steers were up over $1.70. the feeder market is sure surging this summer with demand stronger than supply. New corn closed well under $6 today and fat cattle futures look very attractive to have a few on feed! The weigh cow market held steady with the top cows over $1.00 and the top bull at $1.31 a lb.
Sunday July 3rd was Becky and I’s 35th wedding anniversary. We got up early to go to the pasture to look for a bull I couldn’t find Saturday night only to find him reclaimed by Mother Nature. Not a perfect start to the day to say the least. We worked at the sale barn until noon, ate a bit of lunch with part of the crew, then Becky went to mow yard a while. We did manage to get around and go to the Ft. Bloomfield Rodeo that evening. It was pretty warm, but we sure enjoyed the show with all the grand daughters and all the family!
Have a regular sale coming up next Saturday, watch our Facebook and website for all the early listings.
Have a Dandy Week!
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