KC Sheperd, Farm Director, is back talking with Bob Rodenberger, a Stockman Oklahoma Livestock Marketing partner, as he gives the latest on the cattle markets.
Rodenberger described a $60 increase on the futures board over the last sixty days, and how this week, the feeder, calf, and grazing cattle markets softened.
“Something to look at, we are still selling two-to-three-dollar fats,” Rodenberger noted. “It hasn’t affected it, now we’ll know more today because most of your fats trade at the end of the week.”
While the number of cattle sold was less than last week, Rodenberger feels that is normal for the time of year.
“Hopefully, this is just a break for everybody to see where we are and get a little breathing room,” he said. “Then we will be able to base here and decide if we are going to go higher or if we are just going to go sideways for a while. I’m still optimistic about the deal. We still have fewer cattle, but we are still producing the same amount of meat as we did.”
Uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff policies, the strength of the predicted La Niña system, and the reopening of the Mexican border to cattle trade are some of the growing concerns of producers.
For a spell, Rodenberger expects the runs to be similar to this week, in the vicinity of 8,000 at Oklahoma City and El Reno, and 1,500-2,000 at Apache. He said, “I think that is going to be the normal run for a minute. We all know that at some point in time, we have to see fewer numbers coming through these sales because of the number of cows we have sold. It’ll take time to tell that story.”
