Cattle Markets started off with pretty regular Runs this week, according to Bob Rodenberger at Stockman’s Livestock Auction in Apache.
Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with Rodenberger this morning and he said demand is still excellent, “There’s still excellent demand for the very front-end premium base cattle. We’ve still got an excellent market, but we’ve backed off from where we were three weeks ago.” Rodenberger said Harvest is also playing a role, “People in the middle of the harvest or if they’ve already harvested are working ground, I mean, but in general, the feeder market is good. The Fat market I mean, a week ago, they sold fats from 85 to 91. Now we backed off at now, but it’s ebb and flow. Numbers are pretty much what they were a year ago. So, you know, in general, agriculture or the cattle market is still in good shape. People still can sell a 12 to $1,500 Calf in a 16 to $1,800 feeder steer, so what would be the matter with that?”
As we get into the summer months and triple-digit temps, it becomes tougher on the cattle in feed yards, “You’re gonna see performance back off a little bit. I think that the overall kill weights have been down. So I mean, it’s less tonnage. Hot weather is just tough on cattle in general, and you know, our people out back working at auctions with us, the heats tremendous on them, and everybody’s tries to get through it.”
Over the next couple of weeks, Rodenberger says next week’s sales will be the last for a bit as everyone prepares for the 4th of July Holiday, “We’ll have a dead week after this week, and things will just kind of come to a halt. It will Slow down, and people celebrate. Of course, you know, it’s a good meat month, I mean, they’re gonna grill hamburgers, hopefully.”
To get in touch with Rodenberger and his team with questions about your cattle or the market in general, call 1-800-926-9696.
