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Just a scoop full(July 30)--Feeder cattle prices remain very strong, while fat cattle prices have fallen to a very depressed price, particularly compared to the prices we are giving for feeders. We sold a string of feeder steers that weighed 890 pounds for $111 per cwt. That is the same price per head as a fat steer weighing 1,050 pounds at the current fat cattle price of $94 per cwt. We have a lot of commercial feedlots that are very dependent on their customer base to survive. Most of these feedlots will feed some cattle but definitely are not prepared, or willing, to risk that much to keep their feedlot full. There are a lot of individuals, like myself, that are not large cattle feeders but will consistently keep a fair number in the feedlot year-round. These commercial feedlots are losing customers daily. And the only reason they are losing customers is the high financial risk involved in feeding cattle and, also, these huge losses we have encountered again this past year. Most of these huge corporations that are paying big prices for feeders are evidently sharing in profits from the end product, or else their pencil's a lot sharper than mine. I think it is so important for all these commercial feedlots to survive to keep a competitive feeder cattle market. However, these commercial feedlots cannot keep selling fat cattle the way we have in the past, or else the majority of these lots will have a "for sale" sign in front of them. In order to change anything, you've got to realize there is a problem. The second thing you have to do is be willing to change whatever it is to correct the problem. Let's not sit around and, in a few years, wish we would have tried to change the way we sell our fat cattle instead of handing them to the packers at whatever price they want to give us that week. In the past two weeks, falling from $102 per cwt. on fat cattle to $94 per cwt. with very little justification makes me ill. Most fat cattle sellers act like a whipped pup as far as fat cattle selling. And that is the way it will stay, if you choose to ignore the problem. Editor's Note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Okla., is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family's ranch near Laverne, Okla. 8/11/08 Date: 8/6/08
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