Sold a Few Calves Today

[TimH]

Took a few head to a pre-sort sale today. Got enough out of them to pay my land taxes and fill my fuel tanks(mostly tax as well). :roll: :wink:

Had some- 605lb. steers @ $1.2625
- 502lb. steers @ $1.50

They were all born after April 10th. Multiply the $ by about 0.85 (or whatever today's exchange rate is) to convert to US dollars.
I'm only semi-happy,considering that diesel is over $4.00/gallon.

Oh well. There's always NEXT YEAR!!!! :wink:

 

[rancher]

Looks like your calf prices are right on with most here.

 

[TimH]

Looks like your calf prices are right on with most here.

Ya, you're probably right, Rancher. What are your fuel prices like there?? $4.00CDN for a cdn gallon(bigger than US) would work out to about $2.83 US$ per US gallon(if my math is correct). Is that ballpark??

 

[rancher]

A week or so ago gas was $2.69 and diesel was $3.09.

 

[HAY MAKER]

Why are you tryng to convert your canuckle head money to U>S> dollars anyway,you know damn well you aint gonna buy any thing american,maybe viagra and I doubt that will help the fact you canuckle heads were short changed ...............good luck tiny.......... PS quit being so tight and get yourself a camera so you can post some pictures of these calves that are making you so rich.

 

[TimH]

Why are you tryng to convert your canuckle head money to U>S> dollars anyway,you know damn well you aint gonna buy any thing american,maybe viagra and I doubt that will help the fact you canuckle heads were short changed ...............good luck tiny.......... PS quit being so tight and get yourself a camera so you can post some pictures of these calves that are making you so rich.

Are you on glue Haymensa?? I have John Deere and CaseIH tractors and equipment. Vermeer Baler made in Pella ,Iowa. Ford and Dodge trucks. Martin guitars made in Nazareth Pennsylvania. Fender guitars and amps made in Fullerton Californiia. I shoot Winchester rifles(7 of them) made in the USA. I light my smokes with a Zippo lighter,made in USA.I had apple pie for dessert tonight made with apples grown in Washington State.I sometimes a have a few swigs of Jack Daniels whiskey, made in Tennessee.I'm sitting in front of an IBM computer right now.
Can you recomend a digital camera made in the USA??? If it is worth a sh@t , I might buy it!!!! :wink:

 

[Shelly]

Tim, I think you did all right considering the age of your calves. The prices are a hell of a lot better than last year. I hope that you're right about next year, it'd be nice to get a little more again. Does that make me sound greedy? :???: Sure hope not! I just think we should get paid a little better than even what we are getting this year. Mind you, we were happy with what we got, but 2002 kind of spoiled us!

 

[TimH]

A week or so ago gas was $2.69 and diesel was $3.09.

Thanks, Rancher.
I took this operation over from my aging Dad ,in 2000, and fuel prices have more than doubled in the last 5 years.
He (my Dad) tells me , that when he started farming (in the '50's) gas(diesel was rare then) was 13 cents a gallon!!!!
Fuel is a MAJOR expense around here because we have to put up enough hay to feed a MINIMUM of 200 days per year. It is usually more like 210 to 240. This is why I like to bitch about fuel prices so much!!!!!

 

[HAY MAKER]

Why are you tryng to convert your canuckle head money to U>S> dollars anyway,you know damn well you aint gonna buy any thing american,maybe viagra and I doubt that will help the fact you canuckle heads were short changed ...............good luck tiny.......... PS quit being so tight and get yourself a camera so you can post some pictures of these calves that are making you so rich.

Are you on glue Haymensa?? I have John Deere and CaseIH tractors and equipment. Vermeer Baler made in Pella ,Iowa. Ford and Dodge trucks. Martin guitars made in Nazareth Pennsylvania. Fender guitars and amps made in Fullerton Californiia. I shoot Winchester rifles(7 of them) made in the USA. I light my smokes with a Zippo lighter,made in USA.I had apple pie for dessert tonight made with apples grown in Washington State.I sometimes a have a few swigs of Jack Daniels whiskey, made in Tennessee.I'm sitting in front of an IBM computer right now.
Can you recomend a digital camera made in the USA??? If it is worth a sh@t , I might buy it!!!! :wink:

I forgot about the Jack Daniels ,I stand corrected, tiny................good luck

 

[Faster horses]

Our fuel supplier just called from North Dakota tonight and Unlead is $2.40. Seems unleaded is going down while diesel is going up. (That's why I didn't ask the price of diesel.)

Anyone that drives through here knows Baker has it's own little cartel and the highest price gas in the state of Montana can be found here.

That's a heck of a thing to be famous for. :shock:

 

[Anonymous]

Fuel is a MAJOR expense around here because we have to put up enough hay to feed a MINIMUM of 200 days per year. It is usually more like 210 to 240. This is why I like to bitch about fuel prices so much!!!!!

TimH, you must keep 5-6 ton of hay per cow on hand if you really have that many days to feed per year at times. What is your annual precip. there? How about elevation. The only places I have heard about feeding that much of the year is in the mountains. How about land prices? Just curious? If you are in the mountains, maybe you have high land prices on top of things? Don't you just love questions? :wink:

 

[Shelly]

real jake, it's common to feed for 200 days or more up here. Cows can't live on snow alone! :wink:

 

[HAY MAKER]

real jake, it's common to feed for 200 days or more up here. Cows can't live on snow alone! :wink:

Getting pretty common around here to feed cows 200 days a year too! seems like we are always in a damn drought...................good luck

 

[TimH]

Fuel is a MAJOR expense around here because we have to put up enough hay to feed a MINIMUM of 200 days per year. It is usually more like 210 to 240. This is why I like to bitch about fuel prices so much!!!!!

TimH, you must keep 5-6 ton of hay per cow on hand if you really have that many days to feed per year at times. What is your annual precip. there? How about elevation. The only places I have heard about feeding that much of the year is in the mountains. How about land prices? Just curious? If you are in the mountains, maybe you have high land prices on top of things? Don't you just love questions? :wink:

Real Jake, I figure about 8 round bales per cow. I'm not sure what our normal precip is. Elevation here is just over 1400 feet.
All of my pasture is low-lying(swamp), native short-grass prairie. It takes a long time for that ground to warm up and get the grass growing in the spring. We don't usually turn cattle out until the 1st of June. Then in the fall, a few good frosts and that pasture is done. The up-side is that it is some of the cheapest land around.
I have lots of neighbors whose pastures are on some higher,better land and they can get away with grazing earlier in the spring and later in the fall. It just doesn't work on my place. :wink:

 

[TSR]

Our fuel supplier just called from North Dakota tonight and Unlead is $2.40. Seems unleaded is going down while diesel is going up. (That's why I didn't ask the price of diesel.)

Anyone that drives through here knows Baker has it's own little cartel and the highest price gas in the state of Montana can be found here.

That's a heck of a thing to be famous for. :shock:

I just wonder FH if its like that everywhere because there are about 2 cartels here that seem to get together to determine the price of gasoline. Forty miles down the road and gas is most always $.10 to $.15/gal cheaper.

 

[3words]

Haymaker,big difference feeding cows for 200 days in saskatchewan, compared to feeding them in texas for 200 days.You only have to feed them enough,to mantain there weight.We have to feed them to mantain there weight,and also enough to keep them warm at minus 40.When it turns cold,they have a healthy appetite.

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

100 plus temperatures is ruff on cattle too.....and we seem to have at least 2 months out of the summer where it's that much or more every day....uhggggg....glad it's turnin cooler weather now...

 

[Barx]

TimH, Maybe you shouldn't be raising cows but reindeer instead. They do great on frozen ground, need very little supplement in the winter, a starter herd can be gathered easily just a little North of you, and during Christmas season we can lease them out to Santa for supplemental income. Anybody that has to feed hay over 200 days per year to a cow is much more dedicated than I. Is the snow too deep to winter graze them on the "hay ground"? Hang in there.

 

[TimH]

TimH, Maybe you shouldn't be raising cows but reindeer instead. They do great on frozen ground, need very little supplement in the winter, a starter herd can be gathered easily just a little North of you, and during Christmas season we can lease them out to Santa for supplemental income. Anybody that has to feed hay over 200 days per year to a cow is much more dedicated than I. Is the snow too deep to winter graze them on the "hay ground"? Hang in there.

I realize that folks further south find it odd that we have to feed cattle for so long every year........ But.... during the summer months, when the grass is growing, I usually figure about 4-6 acres per pair. Compare this to areas where people can graze much longer but can only count on 20, 30 or even more acres per pair. It's all relative!!! :lol:
And whaddaya mean "reindeer"??? :lol: It is less than 50 miles from my front door to the North Dakota border. The climate in the northern part of ND would be virtually identical to the climate here.
And,regarding your question about the snow cover, yes it gets pretty deep most years but even if it didn't there is not enough feed value in that dead grass to sustain a pregnant cow. Plus watering them at -40 degrees out in the pasture ain't much fun!! :lol:
What part of California are you from, Barx? What breed of cattle do you run there?

 

[Soapweed]

I've heard it said that "55 degrees with no wind is the optimum 'perfect' temperature for cattle." As it gets colder than the 55 degrees or hotter than 55 degrees, "stress" starts to incur going either direction. Of course, the more extreme temperature either way, the more stress. It stands to reason, I guess, because this is not only a factor for the cows, but for the cowboys, too. The only difference is that for the cowboys, the optimum perfect no wind temperature is more like 70 degrees instead of 55. :wink: