On Monday, the Cattle Markets took some big dips. The Cattle on Feed report from last Friday was considered Bearish and bulls bailed as the decline gathered steam, creating more downward pressure. Bob Rodenberger at Stockman’s livestock auction in Apache says these kinds of extremes are somewhat seasonal, “We’ve seen a $30 break from the September high on The futures, and we’ve taken probably $20-25 off the feeders if you look at the index from the first the middle of September till now we went from kinda 258 to2 62 index down to 240 to241 and this is seasonal. “
Rodenberger says while this drop is seasonal, it’s not something producers like to see, “We always see a break. And the calf market is all relevant to wheat pasture. Now we got some good rains around, but that’s going to be a little delayed for the people buying calves, and they’re gonna buy calves cheaper with feeder cattle cheaper. So the only positive thing is, the fat market stayed pretty steady.”
Rodenberger says Livestock Risk Protection is important for weeks like this in the market when the boards start breaking, “When the board starts breaking, we no longer have human instinct. Now it’s all computer so when it hits those trigger spots, tit goes automatically into the down mode, and we’ve cleaned everybody out. “
Even though the markets did come back up somewhat, Rodenberger says, hopefully, we have found some solid ground, “We still know that we’ve got a million less cattle available from January 1, 2024 through the rest of the year. Now. We still have plenty of cattle available right now. And that’s where the markets at. Cattle on Feed Report came out and whether its right or wrong, it doesn’t matter because The people that move the market go off what the USDA says.”
Rodenberger says he has seen some good rains around the area, which will help the wheat farmers, “Apache anywhere from one and a half to three and a half inches in a 50-mile trade area. We’ve got good rain, and they’re talking rain through the middle of next week.”
Rodenberger expects the runs to be lighter all around next week due to the forecasted rain throughout the state. To visit with Bob Rodenberger at Stockmans LIvestock Auction in Apache call 800 926 9696
