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Just a scoop full(Sept. 5)--The feeder cattle market is great. A lot of those feeder cattle coming to the auction are thinner than normal. With all the extra rain that we received in the spring and early summer the grass was very "wushy." You would tend to think with that much rain, cattle would be gaining great. However, most gains were disappointing. But you could not be disappointed in this feeder cattle market unless you had higher expectations than I did. In December of 2006, feeder cattle had gotten cheaper. Lightweight calves had cheapened some, but had not gotten as cheap, accordingly, as feeders. The 500-pound cattle had followed the feeder cattle prices for a short period with some bringing in the $90s. Most were convinced this feeder cattle market was going to get ugly. And after selling feeder cattle around the first of the year, I noticed some were reluctant to buy back calves for the fear of what the next set of feeders might be worth. Now these feeder cattle are sometimes bringing a lot more per hundred than they cost as calves, while others are bringing about the same as they cost. Either way it has allowed sellers to put some profit in their pocket. On Monday, Sept. 3, wheat made a big rally in price with corn following some. Amazingly, cattle rallied also. If you are running cows it is very important to have a bull in your pasture. I would have to say in this feeder cattle market there are several bulls. If you've got the nerve to buy feeder cattle at these levels and put them on feed--you would have to be in the bull category. When the market heads south and no one wants feeders--then we will refer to that as a steer market. I'd say these buyers now have definitely got them. Editor's Note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Okla., is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family's ranch near Laverne, Okla.
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