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Just a scoop full(Oct. 7)--I was talking to another cattle buyer about the market and about cattle futures falling the last two days of last week. He said cattlemen are getting worn down. They do not have much fight left in them. That is very understandable--particularly with the cattlemen that have had cattle in the feedlot. I was talking to another friend who feeds a lot of cattle and owns part of a feed yard. He said if he hadn't had most of his cattle in the feedlot hedged--he probably would not have been able to survive. Ups and downs in the cattle business are expected, but mostly down, for the past several years, is ridiculous. For several years in a row, it was easy to make money, but for the past several years almost impossible. Cattlemen who consistently sold feeder cattle should not have lost near as much money. Calf prices have taken a big hit lower in the past two weeks. I hear a lot of talk about health problems with calves. One cattleman, who starts a lot of calves, said he has had a lot of sickness since the end of July. He buys a lot of calves in the eastern states. I have seen some sickness this past month but got along good in the summer. A lot of calves being sold now would have brought as many or more dollars per head two months ago, even though they were lighter. I look for three things to happen in these next few years. I look for the long-time weaned calves with shots to be a bigger spread between them and the ones right off the cow. I look for calves getting the right shots to be more important to these buyers. I have heard several say they refuse to buy a calf right off the cow this time of year, meaning mostly September and October. And I look for cow-calf producers to wean either earlier or later, mostly because of price. Often that word "shots" is thrown around loosely. The Blackleg shot is important to give to calves, but if that is the only shot you are giving, then you are not doing much to keep that calf healthy. My 9-year-old son was saying a prayer at the dinner table. He always starts with "help the mockingbirds." I didn't realize they were that important. He ended his prayer with "God, please don't let us have school tomorrow." I'm not sure how those birds got along--but they did have school the next day. If you want everyone you know to survive in the cattle business--tell God. He might be the only one that cares.
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