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, which sells cattle on Mondays and Tuesdays. They also operate the livestock auction markets in Woodward, Comanche, Waurika, and Knoxville, Iowa.
Hale said the run after Labor Day was a bit lighter than usual: “We had about 500 less than a year ago. But we always have kind of a bigger push right after Labor Day, then we’ll probably slow back down a little bit.” He noted some producers are taking advantage of current conditions: “A lot of them are going to take advantage and sell these calves off the cow, although it was cheaper yesterday, still dollar now at a tremendous amount per head on these cattle.”
On the calf market, Hale explained that differences in quality and condition affect spreads: “the weaned ones and unweaned ones, there’s not a big spread on the top end, the lower end can be a bigger spread. But that’s what you get into in these fall runs.” He added, “Sometimes you’ll see a set of unweaned calves that the quality is out of the park, and they may sell right pretty close with the weaned ones.”
Weather swings have also been a challenge: “The weather’s switching, we were in the 60s and 70s, and then we were back at 100. I know those cattle are getting sick, whether they’re 60–90 days wean, or they’re right off the cow, you know, it’s hard on all of them.”
Despite some weekly pressure, prices remain strong. Hale said, “Even though there’s still a lot of pressure on it we can kind of be from $4 to, in some cases, $15 down on these calves. But it’s still a tremendous price, you know, these cattle bringing $1,700–$1,800 a head up to $2,000.”
Looking ahead, Hale pointed to upcoming sales and the wheat pasture outlook: “We’re going to have all about 1,800 at Waurika in a day, a decent run at Comanche tomorrow, and several yearlings for Woodward on Thursday. Still looking good.” On wheat, he added, “There looks like there’s going to be some wheat grazing, if we get the rain we’re going to have to have some October rains, because our two-week forecast doesn’t look too good.”
Hale can be contacted at 940-631-2333. Check out more about the marketing options that Western offers by clicking here.
