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February 2024 02/06/24 4:05:00 PM
2-28-24
The weather has been the best ever for February! We have been sunny and temps in the 60’s and 70’s for highs. Tuesday we even go to 80 degrees. Then the wind picked up and blew in out of the northwest and reminded us it was still February. We were eleven degrees this morning! The forecast says it won’t last very long and going back into the 50’s and 60’s.
Saturday’s sale had a good run of stock and a big outside sale. The hog market jumped higher with heavy sows selling $67.00 to $70.00. Fat hogs made it back to $60.00 to $63.00 for highs. The feeder pigs were also higher, over $1.00 a pound for 60lb pigs this week.
The sheep and goat market was steady. Lambs from 60 to 80lb ranged from $2.60 to $3.10. There was a light test on heavy lambs. Bred ewes sold $1.85 to $2.40 and sure don’t look very high for the way lambs sell! Kid goats topped at $3.80 a pound. Nannies sold mostly $1.00 to $1.40 a pound and billies ranged from $2.00 to $2.50.
The outside sale was sure a big one this week. Small squares sold from $4.00 to $7.00. Straw sold at $3.50 to $4.50. There was a very large run of big bales this week that totaled 1266 bales. The demand was high with the top selling round bales at $140 to $150. The bulk of the round bales were more at $90 to $110. Wet wrapped sudan grass sold for $30 to $45 and wet wrapped alfalfa sold for $80.00. Big squares of grass were $60 to $75 and alfalfa sold for $95 to $110. Corn stalk bales were higher, mostly $40 to $47.50.
Hedge post market was steady with the top quality at $60 to $75. The Oliver tractor brough $3300. The IH mower sold for $2000. A large variety of miscellaneous items occupied the remainder of the sale. Robert Barker was a great help to get us through the outside sale.
The cattle sale had a good group of bred cows. The top set of first calf black heifers sold at $2700. Several packages of 4 to 6 years old at $2200 to $2500. Demand was noticeably stronger for all the cows this week. The weigh cow market sold stronger with cows topping at over $1.20 and bulls over $1.40! This market will remain very strong coming into spring.
We will have special feeder cattle sale this Saturday with over 1000 head expected.
Some of you may know, my mom has spent the past couple of years in the Keosauqua Health Care Center or nursing home. On Monday, after a short few days of pneumonia, my mom passed away. It was a blessing. We will have a visitation at Pedrick funeral home in Keosauqua on Sunday evening March 3rd from 5-7pm. The funeral services will be Monday morning, March 4th at the Troy United Methodist Church. We thank everyone for the condolences and wishes at this time. Mom was a spunky woman with a strong will and mind of her own! Rest in peace, until we meet again.
Have a dandy week!
2-21-24
Last week was the Iowa Beef Expo in Des Moines. Sales kicked off with solid demand for quality breeding stock on the first weekend and wrapped up Wednesday with our Hereford event. Sale averages were mostly from $4000 to $4800 for each respective breet, whether they had 15 head or 70 head. I only attended the Hereford sale on Wednesday and saw a very full crowd. It was sure full of folks looking to add quality to their breeding programs.
Tuesday evening was the Hereford banquet. The banquet was held at the golf course south of the South East Polk high school. It was a great place to host the event and had some really good food. This year I was inducted into the Iowa Hereford Breeders Hall of Fame. I have been the guy that is presenting these awards, when I served on the respective boards, but I didn’t think about receiving it this year. I thank the Iowa Hereford Breeders for the award and all of my family for supporting me. Everyone except for Colby was able to make it up for the banquet. The little girls and Maverick had a great big time for sure!
Saturday was a another big one. The hog sale saw a steady market, with sows in the lower $50.00 for the sows over 500lb. Fat hogs ranged from $45.00 to $48.00 and pigs were scare, with less than 20 head total.
The sheep and gat run was much lower with only 200 head this week. Lambs topped at $3.25 for 61lbs lambs and $2.25 for 104lb lambs. There were 20 head of older bred ewes due in march. The averaged 130lb and brought $185.00 per head. We have two consignments of very top-quality bred Hampshire cross and whiteface ewes due to lamb in march are consigned for this Saturday February 24th.
The goat market had 50lb to 60lb kids selling at $2.90 to $3.25 a pound. Nannies were selling at $1.10 to $1.65 a pound. Dairy cross babies were selling at $2 to $6 apiece.
It was a beautiful daty outside Saturday and a large crowd was in attendance for the hay and hedge post sale. Small square bales sold for $4.00 to $7.00. Big bales were stacked high, tight and double stacked some places just to get it all sandwiched in this week! We had over 1400 big bales. Big bales of the top-quality hay sold for $ $120 to $130. The bulk of the average grass hay was $100 to $120. The lower quality and smaller bales sold at $50 to $90.Wet bales of alfafa brought $75. Sudan Grass at $40 to $60. There was a bigger run of cornstalks selling at $15 to $40, straw big square bales of straw $25 to $35, big round bales of straw were $40 to $55. Big square bales of hay were soft, mostly $50 to $75. I would expect the run to slow up just a bit now, but we will have to see what next week brings.
Hedge post market continues to be very strong on those good quality of 9ft and 10ft straight posts $60 to $75 apiece on 4 stacks of the best! The average line post brought $10 to $20.There was a large amount of merchandise out front that kept Philip and the crew busy until after 12:30pm.
Cattle sale had over 1900 head this week. The market continues to reward producers that bought calves last fall or held on through the winter. Pounds bring dollars in return right now. Fat market is solid and picking up a buck or two each week, while the feeder supply is shrinking by the week!
Baby calves this week were Holsteins and sold at $200 to $250. Feeder cattle runs had very high-quality green condition cattle from the areas producers this sale. Two groups of 508lb and 530lb steers sold at $3.26 to $3.27. The top of the 600lb steers sold at $2.99. Upper 600lb steers sold at $2.60 to $2.70. While 700lb steers topped at $2.50 to $2.60 and 800lb steers topped at $2.35 to $2.42
The heifer market was equally strong all day long. The 400lb heifers topped in the $2.70 to $2.82 range. There were 13head 500lb heifers also topped at $2.81 that sold at 5:30pm Saturday evening. The bulk of the 600lb heifers brought $2.25 and $2.40 and 700lb heifers were $2.20 to $2.35. Weigh cows ranged from $1.15 to $1.24 on the high yielding cows. The bulk of the cows ranged from $1.00to $1.10. The top bulls were over $1.40 a pound.
The crew did a good job handling all the volume and getting loaded out. We had 3 new crew members and even though the sale ran until 8:00pm, they were all safe and willing to report for duty again next weekend!
Calving sure has been as good as it can be in February! I have only used on 4 bales of corn stalks at home, when it generally takes 25 to 30 bales! The calves are out bucking and playing in the pastures and that makes me so thankful for this year’s fair weather! It has made it challenging for me to keep up with tagging them, as they get fast enough, I can’t catch them out there like I used to!
We have a really great offering of reputation set of bred ewes consigned for this week from Gary Mathes. State fair quality lambs are annually produced by this flock! The cow sale will feature a fancy dispersal of spring bred heifers, cows and a dozen fall bred cows. We are also expecting another large run of hay.
Have a dandy week!
2-13-24
Another beautiful week of February weather in Iowa! It’s been in the 50’s and down to freezing at night. The ground has dried off well, except in the high traffic areas. It was even dusty in the lot here this week. It’s hard to imagine this many days of nice weather in February in this part of the country. The forecast is looking really good for the next week. So we will see how we get along with that. Calving has been made much better without fighting the now and subzero temperatures that we typically see. We hopefully wont see to many short eared calves coming through next fall and winter.
Saturday was another big sale here. The hog market kicked off with a big run of all classes. Fat hogs were steady at $47.00 to $54.00. The sows ranged form $53.00 to $58.00 for the ones over 500lbs and $42.00 to $50.00 for under 500lbs. Feeder pigs sold from $35.00 to $65.00 per head. We had 350 head sold through here Saturday morning.
The sheep and goat sale had 600 head and sold steady to lower across all classes. Kids that weighed 40 to 60 pounds sold up to $3.75, with most ranging from $3.00 to $3.50 a pound. Cull nannies brough $1.20 to $1.40 a pound, for the better fleshy kind.
Lambs that weighed 50 to 70 pounds sold for $2.40 to $2.70 a pound. Ft lambs were scares. Weigh up ewes sold for $0.30 to $1.00. Bred ewes continue to sell at $235 to $300 per head. A few ewes, with lambs, sold at $50.00 to $60.00 per nose. The demand is sure holding solid in the sheep and goat market right now.
Outside was big again this week. Small squares bales ‘of hay sold from $4.00 to $9.00 a bale. Small bales of straw were steady at $4.00 to $5300 per able. Big round bales of hay were steady on the hay and cornstalks, but a little lower on straw. The top big rounds were $140 to $165 a bale. LOfof average grass hay in a a good sized bale sold at $90 to $115. The rough hay, small bales or string tied hay sold at $50 to $90. Wet wrapped alfalfa brough $90 to $100 and rye brought $60 to $70. It was a very large crowd outside again Saturday. I’m not sure where everyone parked!
The cattle sale was mostly bred cows this week. The top sellers were $3000 with many of the spring calving middle aged cows selling at $1800 to $2400. A few middle aged and older pairs sold from $2300 to $2700. Older third period cows ranged from $1300 to $1600. We had a big crowd on haid this sale with cows going out in small packageds to multiple buyers. Weigh cows were fully steady with a handful selling at $1.20 to $1.21. The bulk of the fat cows were $1.10 to $1.16. Lean cows were mostly $0.95 to $1.05. We had 20 head of cull bulls that sold from $1.10 to $1.36. I am expecting cows to work up another five to ten dollars in the next month or so.
Sunday is usually my day to load out at the barn. I am usually there by 7:30. I was doing my morning chores and I had already put hay out and checked the pastures. I had a heifer that had calved in the shed and saw her walk out and come to the feed bunk. When I got ready to go, I noticed she hadn’t gone back to her calf. So I went for a walk to see if I could find her, shortly I located the heifer and walked her back down to where her calf was laid. The calf was all dried off but hadn’t nursed yet. I got her up, only to find a soft ball sized umbilical hernia outside the skin. So, I took a couple of pictures and sent off to the vet to see if we had a chance. The phone was ringing from people at the barn that needed loaded out. I just put the calf up in the front seat and headed out, making calls along the way. I got Curtis to help load at the barn. I met Ted along the way and we switched trucks and he went to the vet. I went to the barn to help load several trailers. They kept us pretty busy until 10:30 and then I let Curtis go home. Ted called and said they had the calf put back together was back home. So things had calmed down. I got Sunday afternoon and so far the calf is up nursing on its own! I am very thankful for all those things! I am headed up to Des Moines for the Iowa Beef Expo Tuesday afternoon and for the sale on Wednesday this week.
We have another big feeder cattle sale again this Saturday the 17th. Then we have another special cow sale coming up on February 24th.
Have a dandy week!
2-3-24
It has been a beautiful week of weather to start off February with. It’s been just freezing at night and sunny and the highs up to the 50’s and 60’s. It’s drying off in the most open areas, high traffic areas are still sloppy but it is awesome calving weather to get through the big push of our black heifers and hereford cows. The forecast looks good for the next week, sneaking in a 50% chance of rain on Thursday this week, overwise its mild and sunny!
The sale this week had a good sized hog sale to start the morning. Sows trended higher topping at $56.00 to $58.00 on the over 500lb sows. Light sows were in the $40.00 range. Fat hogs sold from $47.00 to $54.00. A handful of 43lb pigs sold for $45.00 and a group of 75lb sold at $56.00.
The sheep and goat market was steady on 510 head. Kid goats topped at $3.90 again on a 52lb set. Most sold at $2.25 to $3.80. Nannies sold mostly from $1.00 to $1.55. Billies ranged from $2.10 to $2.25 per pound. Lambs that weighed 53lb topped at $3.10. Some 74lb lambs brought $2.80 and 100lb lambs sold for $2.55. Ewes were mostly $0.80 to $1.10 a pound. Big rams sold at $1.00 to $1.20 a pound.
The outside sale was a dandy this week! Philip sold 2135 small square bales and I sold 1306 big bales. The market was sure steady all the way through! The top selling round bales being the next to last pile to sell! Small square bales sold from $3.00 on some lightest little ones to mostly $5.00 to $8.00 on the rest. Big round bales were $110 to $145. Wet wrapped bales sold from $80 to $120. Corn stalk round bales brought $45 to $57.50. Big round bales of straw sold at $40 to $52.50. Big square bales of alfalfa were from $100 to $125 and grass was $85 to $100. Big square bales of wheat straw sold at $40 to $52.50. The hedge post market was active with 2 big stacks of line posts selling at $55.00 to $62.50. Corner posts sold for mostly #30 to $80. There was a very large crowd of people outside on a beautiful day.
The cattle sale continues to have a good run of 1500+ head. Demand was sure solid across the whole offering. Calves under 250lb, selling by the head, brought $450 to $825. The top newborn calves were $500. Most of the feeder calf run was over 600lb this week. Five blk steers at 597lb brought $297.50. A couple groups of steers at 635lb brought $2.80 to $281.50. Some 715lb steers sold for $250.50 and some 893lb steers brought $227.25. A half-colored load of steers that weighed 884lbs brought $236.00.
Heifers sold just as active. Some five weight heifers sold mostly from $2.50 to $2.70. Six weight heifers ranged from $2.30 to $2.40. Some seven weight heifers $2.15 to $2.20. The demand was really strong all afternoon. Weigh cows sold steady with a couple of them brought over $1.20and the bulk ranged from $95.00 to $110.00. Big bulls peaked at $1.38 a pound.
I was really tickled with the way the crew moved strong through all day long. When the barn is full it is a challenge to find places to go and keep everything separate. They did a terrific job all day long!
Calving is in full swing in all 3 counties the past few days. We are so thankful for these pretty days to get them up and going back out in the pastures. I had a pair of twins early morning. They were small byt started good. While I was choring, I got a phone call for a calf to put on a heifer that lost a calf. I said, “Sure. Come on over. I’ve got 2.” So that worked great for both of us as I am not much into the bottle feeding calves. I treated my first calf for BRD already. I am hoping that is the last! Keep an eye on them little guys. We sur had to have trouble after that are up and going good!
We are getting a nice line up of bred cows in for a special cow sale this week. The quality will sure be nice and the market is very buyer friendly, so take advantage of that before the market jumps this spring! Come take a look Saturday!
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