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Mid January 2012 photographs

I haul 2 bales daily like that but with a single wheel truck. It's not bad just don't get in a hurry and pay attention to what you are doing.
 
I think Soap's heifers went from about $1200 up to $1360. Same critters a month ago, would have brought another $100. Feed is pretty limited around this part of the world. I don't think I saw anyone locally buy heifers, and I left before the cows sold.
Top selling heifers I saw was $1580, I think.
 
Soap you have a great looking operation and some really great cattle but I think you outdid yourself on the grand kids. Not spoiled are they?
 
LazyWP said:
I think Soap's heifers went from about $1200 up to $1360. Same critters a month ago, would have brought another $100. Feed is pretty limited around this part of the world. I don't think I saw anyone locally buy heifers, and I left before the cows sold.
Top selling heifers I saw was $1580, I think.
Click to expand...

I watched the sale but I thought the market report was Soapweed's story if he chose to tell it. :wink:
 
Our heifers didn't set the world on fire. 142 head averaged $1320. Selling expense and trucking knocked off another $40 per head, making "take-home" at $1280. The heifers only weighed 880 pounds, but that figured out at $149.84 per cwt, which is better than if they'd been open. They were pretty even, with the lightest cut weighing 861 pounds, and the heaviest at 908 pounds. There was no use in me "no-saling" the heifers, as feed is scarce and mighty expensive. We still have 250 first calf heifers at home to calve, so have enough to keep us busy. Even though we have quite a bit of hay on hand, we need to buy more hay just to get them and our cow herd through 'til hopefully we have some green grass.

There is no use for a rancher to frequent a casino, because "steaks" are high enough just gambling with cattle. :wink:
 
Back in the day.... That should'a beat breakeven by 3 or 4 dollars. Not stated to be smart, just thinking of the feed savings.
 
Will an additional 900 tons of that $200 hay get you through the winter?

When Dad broke even or lost ground on a set of cattle he would say, " At least I got the use of 'em." :-)
 
gcreekrch said:
When Dad broke even or lost ground on a set of cattle he would say, " At least I got the use of 'em." :-)
Click to expand...

what i like to tell my wife after we break even or lose ground on set of cattle is, " at least someone else has to feed them now." :wink: :D
 
The fact that these were all home-raised heifer calves puts a little better light on the situation. Expenses per head for the last fourteen months comes to $580 per head. With "take-home" pay of $1280 per head, this equates to them selling for $700 per head in mid November of 2011, the year they were born. There were top end heifer calves at the sale barn that fall that brought from $900 to as much as $1200, but our more generic non-promoted heifer calves would have sold for probably $700 to $800. The market was on the rise as the selling season progressed, and our 80 "tail-end" heifer calves brought $750 in late December. However in October and November of 2011, our biggest and best heifers would have been hard-pressed to bring much over $700. If we had sold them for $700 at that time, there would have been profit in the deal. Yes, I have missed windows of opportunity to make quite a bit of money on these girls. Sometimes it's hard to know when to hold and when to fold. That is what makes life so doggoned interesting. :-)


Hopefully the buyers will have positive experiences with these bargain basement specials, and come back another year wanting more. :-) Besides, we still have the top end held back to calve out and add to our cowherd.
 
gcreekrch said:
Will an additional 900 tons of that $200 hay get you through the winter?

When Dad broke even or lost ground on a set of cattle he would say, " At least I got the use of 'em." :-)
Click to expand...

Where can a person find bargain hay like that? :? :-) . Like Soapweed, we plan to sell some bred cows at the end of the month. Last fall we went with a load, and in hindsight, should have gone with more. We had our forest meeting, and the handwriting is on the wall. Delayed go-on date with reduced numbers, if we are allowed to go at all. Even if we are blessed with good moisture, they still felt this would be the scenario. Moisture really doesn't look likely going forward, and we have a minimal snowpack. I felt terrible for those people who had been burned out this summer. No grass, and miles and miles of fences on both forest and private ground to rebuild. Lets all hope 2013 is a better year for all of us.
 
Beings how hay is short all around where you live. How far away did your heifers go after being sold? Do you have any idea? Just curious how far the valentine sale barn draws buyers.
 

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