Bred cow prices

[ASRG]

Took in the bred cow and heifer sale at Innisfail yesterday. Large crowd, good cattle.....not great prices.
Bred heifers were generally in that $1/lb range....highest I saw sell were $1300 for 1340 lb red heifers bred Red Angus to calve March 1.
Young cows (3 years old) were slightly less around $1050- $1150 for 1200-1400 lb cows.
I never saw to many older cows sell but the ones I did were cull cow price. When I say older cows I mean 5-7 yr. olds. I assume a lot of those cows will be going to slaughter.

[burnt]

Pretty well mirrors what bred prices are doing here in the east. One consignment of 70 bred heifers recently sold in the $1150 - $1350, mostly $1250. A package of really nice heifers at about $1400. Good cows $1000 - $1200.

So what's that saying with calves selling where they are?

[burnt]

Those were black Angus heifers.

[grassfarmer]

I think it's saying opportunity Burnt. I think there are so many people sick of the cow job in Canada that there are not enough buyers to drive the trade higher. I think that when the feeders take another leg up to higher price levels in the spring the guys that bought now will look pretty smart. You just need to look at the highs being set in the US to see higher prices are on the way. I'm sure some of you saw comments on another website about the 60 9-weight open heifers in Nebraska going to the feedlot at $1.43, 500lb Red Angus calves at $1.83 for steers and $1.95 for their replacement quality sisters.

[brian99]

Same thing here in the south. Good prices to start(saw some $1700 heifers last week). Then tails off very quickly. I think two guys bought a third of the cattle at one sale. Good servicable cows, not grannys or swing bags, $925. A little younger, $1000-$1100. Three year olds, $12-1400. The problem is the volume of bred cattle coming. At three yards down here, there are 15000 head coming before Christmas. Thats not the dribs and drabs and a few culls and all those extras, that's just the good solid listed cattle. Who's gonna buy em all? I see alot of heifers going back home.

[kato]

We haven't been to any sales yet, but Hubby was at the auction mart this week, and talked to a guy who was at a bred cow sale. He said that most of the cows went for slaughter prices. Whether they're going for slaughter, or the buyers are going to speculate on them is anyone's guess.

The exodus from the business isn't over yet. I wonder how high calf prices are going to have to get before it stops?

[ALLFARMER]

Well even with the high prices in the US I read in
the Cattlemen that US producers are not
rebuilding their herds yet.

Wanting to see how the Rafter G sale 1500 bred
black heifers goes on DLMS today.

End of January beginning of Febuary and I want
another 50 for calving

[food4u]

I agree with you 100% Craig, right on..

[FarmRanger]

I'd like to know how many ballots went to farmers versus landlords.

The answer is highly unlikely to shed a good light on the current propaganda campaign, so I doubt you'd get an honest answer from the CWB.

[silverback]

I volunteer to go around to verify who these "farmers" actually are (I am sure the board would pay for my expenses to take away any perception of impropriety).

It might take all winter, but it would definitely be interesting.

I am guessing the colonies would have gotten A LOT of ballots so I will start there.

[wd9]

Really? Your really think this would EVER happen? Never happen. Nope, zero chance.

After launching a campaign to get every NDP housewife and highschool student in Ontario convinced the small farmer and their food supply will end and they wil starve to text to MP's a generated letter, that organization wants survival at any cost and does not care about farmer rights and desires or fairness of any kind.

[ASRG]

I was kind of amazed that so few were bidding. Like grassfarmer says "opportunity was knocking"!
But then I think "okay...you wade in and some rotten deal like foot and mouth comes down the pipes...and presto!....right back to 2003! A lot of people pretty well lost faith that the government is going to do their job and take responsibilty for disease control and goofy trade actions, after living through the BSE gong show!
Maybe it is prudent to be a little risk adverse?

[kato]

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me???

What's missing from the picture is confidence. We've become a lot like our parents who grew up in the Depression. My father in law was absolutely terrified of debt. Taking out a loan practically gave him nightmares.

Security is a priority for a lot of people now, because we know first hand what it's like to have it all taken away. Rolling the dice is getting harder and harder to do, and still get a good night's sleep. As the prices get higher, instead of encouraging people to buy, it's scaring them off because there is so much more at stake.

[wilagro]

Landlords have just as much right to decide where THEIR grain is marketed as anyone else. I read all kinds of comments to the contrary but I don't understand why, after all it IS their grain too if the rental agreement is on a crop-share basis. On a cash rental basis the marketing decision would be negotiable IMHO.

[gregpet]

So Wilagro, why as a farmer do I not
have the right to chose for how much,
where and when I sell my wheat?
Why do others have the right to decide
on my behalf.

No one is going to change their
position on this issue. The only
certainty is that market choice is
coming.