Never Be Another Bad Day.

The week started out with the market on what seemed to be a never ending down hill slide.  Most prognosticators had the opinion that no relief would come until the corn crop was all but assured to be a bumper one. However, salvation arrived after most of the week’s feeder cattle marketing had taken place with Thursday’s banner day for cattlemen. The festivities started out with the USDA grain stocks and prospective plantings report that stated corn farmers intend to plant 97.28 million acres, which would be the largest corn planting since 1936 when much of the work was done by mules. Corn stocks were also above expectations at 5.4 billion bushels which ensures that we won’t run out of yellow kernels before the new crop gets here. The news forced CBOT corn futures down the 40 cent limit which sent the CME feeder cattle contracts up the 3.00 limit as far as the eye could see. At the same time, packers were paying 2.00-4.00 more for finished cattle from 127.00-129.00 live and 204.00-205.00 dressed which was 6.00-7.00 higher. March 28th is when the feeder and stocker cattle market found a bottom with a springboard to bring demand and attitudes out from under the cloud that has plagued them since right after the first of the year. Just a day earlier, it seemed there was no relief in sight from high feedcosts and the late spring might cause more farmers to plant soybeans. Now, severely dwindling calf and yearling supplies are armed with the arrival of spring and its warmers days, greener pastures, and the annual lighting of the backyard grill. The glimmer of hope for at least some relief in feedcosts is slim but nearby corn contracts fell below 7.00/bu for the first time in over a month and Good Friday’s closing prevented moods from changing until next week.
   

Wiregrass Sale Results

2013 Wiregrass Marketing Association Sale

Type	Base Weight	Delivery Date	Price
Steers	700	April 15-19	132.50
Steers	775	April 9-13	127.40
Steers	790	April 1-5	127.50
Steers	800	April 1-5	125.40
Steers	825	ASAP	121.90
Steers	825	April 1-5	122.00
Steers	835	April 1-5	122.75
Steers	890	April 1-5	118.00
Steers	730/Part Load	May 1-15	132.00
Heifers	685	April 1-5	124.80
Heifers	715	April 1-5	123.80
Heifers	800	April 1-5	113.00
Heifers	680/Part Load	May 1-15	124.00

Wiregrass Cattle Marketing Association Sale

The Wiregrass Cattle Marketing Association annual Feeder Cattle Sale will be held on March 26th at 6:30 P.M. The sale will take place at the Pike County Cattlemen's Complex located on 231 South of Troy, AL.  Approximately 1000 head of top quality feeder cattle for sale from some of the best producers in the state.   To view the videos of the cattle go to:

www.youtube.com/montgomerystockyards

 If you need any further information or need to set up phone bidding please contact Darrell, Perry or Jerry.

Wiregrass Sale - Whit Lane

Whit Lane Load of Steers Base 825lbs. Located in Ft. Deposit, AL.  Deliver March 27th to April 5th.

Wiregrass Sale - Eric Smith

Eric Smith Load of Steers Base 775lbs. Located in Shorterville, AL. Deliver April 9th to 13th.

Wiregrass Sale - Pugh Davis and Sons

Pugh Davis and Sons Load of Yearling Heifers. Base 690lbs. Located in Troy, AL. Deliver March 27th to April 5th.

Wiregrass Sale - J and M Farms

J and M Farms two part loads. 60 Steers base 730lbs. 45 Heifers base 680lbs. Located in Banks, AL.
Deliver May 1st to 15th. 

Wiregrass Sale - Bill Hixon

Bill Hixon 1 Load base 875lbs 1 Load base 775lbs. Immediate Delivery. Located In Banks, AL

Wiregrass Sale - Wesley Granthum

Wesley Granthum Load of Heifers. Base 715lbs. Located in Shorterville, AL. Deliver March 27th to April 5th.

Wiregrass Sale - Bill Sanders

 Bill Sanders 3 loads of Heifers. Located in Goshen, AL. 186 head base weight 775lbs. Deliver April 1st to 10th. 

Jason Williams Split Load

Steers base weight 750lbs Sold 126.00  Heifers 725lbs  Sold 118.00
Sort From 85 hd

Deliver April 1st to 5th (No Wednesday Loading)
2% Shrink, Weighed on ground at Seminole Stockyard in Donalsonville, Ga After 15 mile Gooseneck haul.
Slide 5 cents up only
Heifers sell 8 cents back of Steers

Will Be Yearlings
65% Black/BWF, 30% CharX, 5% Red/RWF.
Cattle on Oat Pasture with no Supplemental Feed
Medium Flesh
Home Raised
15% will show 1/8 ear, Balance none.

Virasheild 6+VL5 w/booster
Ultrabac 7 w/booster
Dewormed with Dectomax Injectable 2X
No Implant

Supply and Demand

The major driving force in our local market has been light receipts. In the state of Alabama alone we have sold 34,000 fewer cattle than last year and this trend is the same wherever you go.  With the limited availability of cattle to go to their customers, order buyers have been forced to bid more eagerly. Most sales across the state reported calf prices 2.00 to 3.00 higher.  Its supply and demand at its purest, as the beef industry lets these market dynamics play out with very little government interference for the most part. Fundamentals are lined up in a row for a feeder cattle market surge, including; improved weather, a spring rally in beef cut-out values, a rebounding economy along with an all-time record-high stock market, and last but clearly not least the well-advertised lack of supply.  But when possession becomes more important than the bottom line it can’t last forever.  On the other side of the market, the feedlots and packers are dripping so much red ink it looks like Freddie Krueger has been keeping the books.   I know it may not seem important to us how much money a feedlot or packer is losing, but keep in mind the guys who buy our cattle at the sale have to sell them to someone.  Most of the people they sell them to are somehow tied to a feedlot or packer.  There may be some lag time but if the feedlots are losing money because of high feeder cattle prices it will eventually trickle down.  However with total cow numbers at 1950’s level and no increase in sight, it doesn’t look like the supply is going increase anytime soon. The competition for every calf will remain high.  With the sunshine getting warmer and the drought all but gone in the southeast the demand for cattle suitable for grazing should remain very strong.