On Tuesdays, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, visits with Ben Hale of Western Livestock Auctions as he talks about the latest in the markets and more. Established in 1995, Western has grown into a multi-generational family-owned and operated business and stands as a symbol of tradition, excellence, and a deep-rooted passion for the cattle industry. Western Livestock Auctions operates the Western Livestock Commission Firm – selling cattle on Mondays and Tuesdays. They also operate the livestock auction markets in Woodward, Comanche and Knoxville, Iowa.
Despite a couple of weeks of extreme winter weather systems seemingly at their worst on Mondays, numbers in the Oklahoma City auction have been holding around 7,000 head, 7,100 – 7,200 this week compared to 5,800 a year ago.
“The market is still holding extremely good,” Hale said. “They’ve called some of those feeders, maybe, a little softer, but some of them a little higher on certain weights, but there is still lots and lots of demand. The good cattle sure enough bring a lot so we are still getting along extremely well.”
He said that lighter-weight cattle also brought good prices; Market News reported steady to $4 higher on steer and heifer calves. He reported that mid-five-weight cattle brought $1,900 – $2,000, and bigger steers brought well over $2,000.
“There is nothing wrong with the market on what we are getting dollars per head on these cattle turning out – no doubt,” Hale said.
He expects both the Comanche and Woodward auctions to be lighter on numbers this week than last. Hale anticipates the weather to level out over the next week to ten days and looks forward to seeing where the numbers are in milder conditions.
Hale can be contacted at 940-631-2333. Check out more about the marketing options that Western offers by clicking here.
