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April 2024 04/10/24 2:25:00 PM
4-23-24
We received a nice inch of rain to end last week. It came easy and we missed all the tornados and hail that cam through with this front. It cooled off with frost on Sunday and Monday morning. It’s been windy for 3 or 4 days the past week, as well. The forecast loosks to be warmer the next 7 days, with another chance of rain going into Friday and Saturday. If you look back on the foggy days of 100 days ago, we were expecting rain through the middle of April
Saturday was a good sized sale for April. The hog sale had butchers selling in the mid 50’s for fats. The sows ranging from $55.00 to $60.00 for sows weighing over 500lb and $35.00 to $55.00 on sows under 500lbs. A couple of 120-130lb groups of pigs sold at $0.60 to $0.65 a pound.
The sheep and goat sale had 580 head! The 50-60lb fat boer kids sold from $3.75 to $4.20 on the top. Nannies were from $0.80 to $1.30 a pound. A couple of nannies with kids brought $100 to $115 counting noses. The big billies brought $2.00 to $2.30 a pound. The lambs ranged at $2.75 to $2.95 under 70lbs. The lambs over 70lb were more at $2.40 to $2.80 a pound. The cull ewes were at $0.80 to $1.10 for black face ewes.
The outside sale had small squares selling from $4.50 to $8.50 a bale. The big bales were higher at $110 to $150 a bale and all grass or grass mix hay this week.
Cattle sale started of with several baby calves selling from $400 to $800 this week. The feeder sale had over 1400 head and the market was sure active! The majority of the run was made up of fall calves that were weaned and vaccinated. The 3 weights of steers got up to $4.00 a pound. The 4 weight steers sold from $3.60 to $3.85 on the nicer kind. One fancy group of group of 550lb steers brought a top of $3.70 a pound. Most 6 weight steers sold at $2.95 to $3.05 a pound. A load of steers that weight 857lbs brought $243.50 and a load 966lb at $229.50. Heifers held up the pace this week with 4 weight heifers mostly $3.20 to $3.50, 5 weight heifers sold at $2.70 to $3.20 and 7 weight heifers at $2.30 to $2.40.
The weigh cows topped at $1.43. The good yielding, heavier cows were mostly $1.25 to $1.35 and the bulls topped at $1.78. We had another big run of weigh cows this week.
This is a very, busy week. The boys worked heifers last Friday morning and then worked a big group of pairs at Ted’s house. Saturday was sale day of course and Sunday was load out. Monday we had 5 loads of heifers out of the country to load, bred Hereford heifers in the morning and evening. Then the crew moved 350 heifers, sorted and put 150 of them through the chute. Then we put another 100 cows at home through the chute and pulled CIDR’s, gave lutelyse and put on patches! This week is kinda that way all week, but we will get through it in good fashion. We made it through Monday in good shape and plan to haul heifers out to pasture this afternoon as well.
We had Colby’s birthday party last night after we finished up as well! It sure is a blessing for us to be able to work together as a family! We are very, very thankful for that.
Have a dandy week!
4-16-24
Well, the weather has made me lose my sweatshirt! It’s been in the 80’s the past couple of afternoons! It was still 70 degrees Saturday night at 10:30p when I went back home after the sale. We have been windy almost every day. The wind blew up a good rain here today. That was sure nice to get. The girls put some sweet corn in the ground yesterday, so we will see how mother nature cooperates getting it up and going. We had some rough ground that we had cleaned up with a dozer and we hauled several loads of manure off it. We spread some oats and fescue back on it to see if we could heal it up again. The forecast is calling for a cooler week, back into the 40’s and a possible shower again on Thursday.
Saturday had 300+ hogs in the run. The feeder pigs sold at mostly $0.70 to $0.80 cents a pound. Fat hogs were at $52.00 to $59.00, while the sows were strong at $50.00 to $58.00 for ones weighing less than 500 pounds and $64.00 for sows over 500 pounds were $64.00. The sow market should hold good value over the next month.
The sheep and goat market had over 600 head this week. The lambs up to 60 pounds were generally $2.50 to $2.75 a pound. The 60 to 80lb lambs were $2.70 to $3.00 a pound for a top. The ewes sold from $0.70 to $1.12 and the cull bucks at $1.20 to $1.25 a pound. Meat goat kids weighing 50 to 60 pounds were bringing $3.70 to $4.20 a pound. Nannies were $0.85 to $1.45 and big billies brought $1.70 to $2.40 a pound. The top big billy figured up to $696 a head!
The outside sale had small square bales of hay selling from $5.00 to $11.50 and straw at $3.50 to $4.50 a bale. Big bales were piled up everywhere again this week. Hay topped out at $140 to $160. The average hay was still $50 to $75. There was a big pile of cornstalks again with over 200 bales here. The demand is just enough to get them sold. Prices were $10 for the kind that might not make it home up to $35 a bale. The majority of them brought $25 to $30. The post market was as spunky as the past month. The crowd was lighter on a gorgeous day for sure!
The cattle sale had mostly cows this week. There was a good number of baby calves again and mostly beef. They sold from $500 to $950 a head. We started the cow sale with a very nice group of reg angus heifer pairs. The first 10 head sold at $3500, the second 10 head had heifer calves and sold at $3300. The last nine were mixed sex calves and the smalls heifers at $3050. The cows with calves at side sold along from $2400 to $3100. The third period cows mostly from $2400 to $2600, while the second period cows were $2000 to $2300. It felt like demand was good, with fewer buyers purchasing bigger numbers than we saw a few weeks ago.
Weigh cows were steady to a couple dollars higher again. The top cow hit $1.47 and the high selling bull at $1.66 a pound. We totaled 200+ weigh ups again this sale. I will sure remind you all, we are not keeping enough heifers back on farms to keep up with cow and heifer slaughter!
Sunday, we loaded out around the barn. Luch time however, we stopped to celebrate Ellie’s 3rd birthday. Lord, I wish I had her spunk and energy! When she giggles, squeals, and takes off running, she really doesn’t touch the ground. What a delight grandkids are!
Monday morning we put 100 cows through the chute, the second time around. We were done in 2 hours this time around. We have a nice run of feeder cattle for the sale this Saturday, April 20th.
4-10-24
The past week brought just a couple of light showers across the area. We have had some windy days and continues to warm up even to 70 degrees a couple of afternoons. The forecast is looking good ahead with another chance of rain the first of next week. There have been several lawn mowers running around here for the first time this spring as the grass is sure to start growing!
This Saturday the fat hogs were selling at $55.00 to $62.00 and a few locker hogs at $65.00 and $66.00. The sows that were over 500lb were $58.00 to $61.00. Feeder pigs were 45-95lb brought $45.00 to $86.00 per head. All parts of the hog market have been pretty, steady for the past month.
The sheep and goat run lightened up to just 300hd this week. The 50-80lb lambs sold from $2.80 to $3.05 on the higher quality kind. We had 5 fat lambs sold at $202.50. Cull ewes were from $0.40 to $0.60 on the poor quality and $1.00 to $1.20 on the high end. The big rams sold at $1.10 to $1.15 a pound.
The goat sale had bottle babies at $10 to $40 per head. Not a good test on the market kids with a couple 93lb at $3.30 a pound. Nannies were generally $0.80 to $1.40 a pound. The big billies were $1.70 to $2.20 a pound.
The outside sale had a big line up of hay and cornstalks, as well as, the posts and all kinds of other items! Philip was absent to help with a church function, so Mike Goehring was available to help with all the outside sale this week.
The small square bales of hay sold at $2.50 to $7.50 and straw/stalks brought $2.75 a bale. The big round bales of hay were $100 to $145 per bale on the better hay and $50 to $80 on the plain quality. Several bales of corn stalks sold at $20 to $40 per bale. The hedge post market was at $40 to $70 on the fancy straight 9-10ft posts and $20 to $40 on the fancy line posts. Common posts dropped off at $2.00 to $10.00 per post. The bulk bins brought $700 to $1500 apiece.
The cattle sale had over 1000 head following Friday’s $5.00 loss in Chicago surrounded by the fake news in the media related to the chicken flu! Anyway, the market continues to hold good value. Baby calves sold from $500 to $900 on beef calves and dairy calves brought $200 to $350.
The feeder cattle market was steady all afternoon. The 510lb steers topped at $3.50, the 647lb strs topped at $2.85, 765lb strs at $2.65 and a load of crossbred strs at 826lb at $2.44. The heifers topped at 350lb brought $3.40, 464lb at $3.30, 647lb at $2.48 and a load of 738lb heifers at $2.38.
The big run of the weigh cows continued last Saturday and the market was higher. The top cow at 1845lb brought $1.49 and there were several cows in the $1.30’s and lows $1.40’s. Bulls sold from $1.35 to $1.72.
Sunday Erin came and helped load out and get everything fed around the sale barn. The boys gathered pairs at Luke and Cody’s house and worked pairs all day. I took Erin out there for lunch and after I finished loading out at the barn Sunday evening I stopped by and ate supper with them. Monday, we worked pairs at my house and it turned into an all day project! The weather has been really good for calving cows in the pasture this spring and this ole man didn’t get calves tagged at birth like normal, so we worked through those to get them all caught up. The calves are sure doing good this spring!
We have a great run of bred cows and some very fancy pairs for our sale Saturday. Come take a look or give us a call!
Have a dandy week!
4-1-24
Boy the weeks go by fast anymore! It seems like I just wrote the news a couple of days ago! Lots of things going on keeps us running for sure! The weather has sure been ok with temps in the 50’s most days. The past week. The east winds brought us a half inch of rain overnight, that is all good for sure! Rain on Easter Sunday would be a good sign we may continue to receive some rain for the next 7 weeks!
Saturday turned out to be another big sale. The hog market had sows back up to $0.75. The fat hogs were mostly $0.55 to $0.62 and pigs were from $1.00 a pound for 40lb pigs, with 80lb pigs at $0.80 to $0.82 a pound. Even big boards were better at $0.25 to $0.30 a pound. We had 2 nice gilts showing up real close at $250 per head.
The sheep and goat market was pretty much the same as last week, the better 50lb lambs were right at $3.00 a pound. The good 60lb to 80lb lambs were $2.50 to $2.80 a pound. Weigh up ewes brought $0.80 to $1.00 for the black face ones. Baby goats seemed plentiful from $10.00 to right at $100 pf a nice week old red boer cross nanny. Kids topped at $4.10 for 50lb kids, while the 60lb to 80lb kids ranged more from $3.20 to $3.60 a pound. Nannies sold at $0.50 to the thin, light nannies up to $1.20 on good meat type does. The big billies brought $1.90 to $2.20 a pound. The market has sure held solid all the way through, let’s hope it says good as we continue through spring.
The outside sale had a larger run of small bales, but a very active market. The better kind of hay mostly $7 to $10.50. Small bales of straw sold at $4 to $5. The big round bales were back up $5 to $10 a bale. The top hay was at $150 . There were several stacks at $90 to $110. Wet bales of alfalfa sold at $90, high moisture sorghum/sudan bales were $40 to $45 again. Corn stalk bales were $30 to $40 and there were multiple lots of them that had several bales in each lot. We had a very big crowd on hand for the outside sale again this week!
The cattle sale had 40head of baby calves! There was a very solid demand for those week old calves. Baby beef calves sold from $500 to $800 and dairy calves were from $200 to $400. We were loaded up with good numbers in the cow sale this week. The middle-aged pairs sold from $2900 to $3200. Older, aged pairs were around $2000 to $2400. The middle-aged cows bred to calve in April/May brought $2200 to $2700. The fall bred middle aged cows ranged from $2000 to $2600. There was a very large crowd on hand and the cows scattered out on a wide range of buyer numbers!
Weigh cows totaled out over 200 head. The market continues to scoot up each week. The top cows were over $1.30, to the top at $1.44. Big bulls were also higher with a top of $1.75. We had a 2750lb Hereford bull that brought $1.65 or over $4500. It’s sure a good time to upgrade your genetics!
We lost a great neighbor last week. Steve was hard working man, that was a top farmer and great cow man! He was an outstanding American and family man. Rest in peace Steve Rupe.
We have a special feeder sale coming this week, April 6th.
Have a dandy week!
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