Agricultural News
As Older Cows Continue to Be Culled, Recent Rains Lift Spirits at Livestock Action
Fri, 02 Sep 2022 11:41:01 CDT
KC Sheperd, Farm Director, is visiting with Bob Rodenberger with Stockman’s Livestock Marketing giving an update of the current trends he is seeing in the cattle market.
In Oklahoma City, Rodenberger said the week started out steady.
“I always go back and look at the USDA report, and what we had a year ago this time and this week was within a couple of hundred head of it,” Rodenberger said. “The volume has really not slowed down.”
Rodenberger said he is still seeing the number of cows coming to be sold go up and calves coming in getting lighter. After the good general rain received in widespread areas lately, Rodenberger said many are now hoping to put some calves out on wheat pasture if the precipitation will continue.
There has not been a tremendous number of young cows culled so far, Rodenberger said, as he has mostly seen cows around 8 years old and up come to town.
“People are just culling back to try to save what they got to get to next year to see if we can get hay again,” Rodenberger said. “This week we sold calves that we normally don’t sell until February.”
Calves that usually would go out on wheat pasture, Rodenberger said, are coming straight to the sale barn.
“The calves are coming early, which is normal because they are trying to save the young cow,” Rodenberger said. "That is what I want them to do. As far as my standpoint, if we keep selling cows, we are selling the factory and it will take a minute to replace that factory.”
In general, Rodenberger said the market has been good.
“The front-end calves are still just as high as ever,” Rodenberger said. “We are seeing a little bit of up and down in the uniform market in the calf market, but it is as much quality as anything else.”
The people who have been buying calves to put in grow yards, Rodenberger said, have backed off recently and those who planned on putting cattle out on wheat are having to focus on farming.
“You’re in the middle of where these calves are going,” Rodenberger said.
Rodenberger said he does not see anything changing significantly right now.
“The cow numbers are going to keep coming until people get down to where they think they can reasonably sustain what they have got on hand,” Rodenberger said. “The hay situation is not going to be any different. We have got to get a full cycle ahead of us to change that, but we will have some optimism if we get some wheat in. “
Some producers, Rodenberger said, are considering growing hay grazer so we might see some hay come up in the next 60 days.
Click the LISTEN BAR below to listen to KC Sheperd and Bob Rodenberger as he gives his cattle market update.
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