schmellba99 said:

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So what am I supposed to be happy about when it's cheap?

Apparently I'm supposed to be glad to pay $4 a gallon for fuel, because it keeps O&G people well stocked with toys and deer leases at really high prices. I'm supposed to want beef to be high so people that raise cows can be happy. I'm supposed to be glad to pay a lot for cotton, soy, beans and any other ag product so farmers can be happy. I'm sure we can justify why I'm supposed to be happy that trucks run $50k+ so that car salesmen are happy, or why a John Deere runs $100k+ so the ag sales guys can buy new shoes, etc. I'm guessing if I were to be happy at low milk prices, I'd be one of those evil people that don't think all the way through and have no concern for the dairy farmer and his plight as well.

What exactly can I as a consumer be happy about paying less for without it meaning that the world is about to come to an end for one reason or another?

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Going to sell at auction tonight/tomorrow in Gonzales. I'll report back...

I have close ties to both industries.
O&G.... I have been in and out of O&G three times for a total of about 27 years. In my current business, the UPS Store does WAY better when the O&G is booming.

Cattle.... I rely on my cattle to pay for the taxes on my place. Some of you might be surprised that there can be years where it barely covers that.

There is a big difference in how you look at the two, though...... Most of us must buy gasoline, from the same source (the gas station), and rely on it daily just to get to work. It is a large part of the budget of many of us.

Beef..... we can always choose something else to eat, or at least can find alternate ways to get some beef besides walking into HEB or Dziuks Meat Market. It is a minor portion of a personal budget, and could be considered a luxury.

htxag09 said:

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Don't see the hypocrisy. I'm in O&G and while I'd love for prices to be higher, I don't get on my platform and tell people to be upset they are paying less. Some do, just like some are on here saying low cattle prices are bad. Sure you may see more of it in O&G buts that's what happens when you're around that community, which Texas is.

And FWIW, through this O&G downturn I've seen far more people (from TexAgs to the local news) celebrating the lower prices and even going as far as saying O&G employees deserve it because they make some ridiculous amount of money.

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Exactly! Also, I dont think a gallon of gas needs to cost $4. I'm fine with it around 2.50 to 3.00. Its a nice price that typically reflects the cost of oil at around 50-55 per barrel, which is a good place for the oil field to be.

KRamp90 said:

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Going to sell at auction tonight/tomorrow in Gonzales. I'll report back...

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I'll probably be there as well. From the last few Saturdays it's been pretty sad. However, if you are looking for replacement heifers now is the time.

histag10 said:

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htxag09 said:

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And FWIW, through this O&G downturn I've seen far more people (from TexAgs to the local news) celebrating the lower prices and even going as far as saying O&G employees deserve it because they make some ridiculous amount of money.

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Meh

The ONLY people I really see complaining about this are people that literally have zero clue about what workers do to earn these "ridiculous" salaries.

Stopped by Jordan's in San Saba this afternoon. The kinda cows we bought in March were off ~ $200/ hd today.

Calves up five to seven cents s pound in Brenham yesterday!

Jordan's used to be thursday, when did it move to saturday?

"Special" Replacement Sale.... That they have just about every month. ~ 3000 hd advertised

Sold a group of 11 calves at market last August and all graded at medium and large 1 and brought 300/hundredweight and now markets are at less than half on graded calves. Normally around 120-140

Luckily we switched to selling all our calves to a large stocking operation and our buyer pays a large enough premium to offset lower prices a bit, but still far from ideal.

On the other hand, won't have our first freeze here in Virginia until early November at the earliest! Plenty of late grazing this year, so hoping to save some of our hay supply.

And as another poster added. Gas/diesel is a necessity. Beef is not necessarily a necessity to all (to me it is), but there at least alternative options such as venison which makes up about 75% of my protein intake anyways.

I took 8 calves to Union Commission in Hondo last Sunday, and these six yesterday. The first load averaged slightly over a dollar..... disappointing, but it is what it is.

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We took 30 to Liveoak in Three Rivers this weekend...500 lb . Hope they bring more than $1. Getting them off the cows for the winter.

We took a load to Lockhart last Thursday. I should get the check today. I'll report back.

Duckdown, do you have any hunting leases or know of any in Virginia? Alternatively, If you make it to nova send me a note and id be happy to grab beer over 42.

Username@aggienetwork.com

So im not in the ranching business, but would it be better for me and the ranchers to sell direct to the consumers? Anyone willing to butcher a cow for me and sell it to me for $3 per pound? Would that save me money and make more for the rancher? Cut out the middle man. Especially if we arent seeing the price drop at the grocery store yet?

We are seriously looking into moving from cow/calf operation to full-on grass fed beef operation. Demand is high and prices are more than double the market.

We are meeting with some USDA processors in the area to see if we can come up with any agreements. Most people selling grass-fed beef up here(Virginia) sell at 4.00-4.50/lb "plus processing fees" which just end up covering slaughterhouse/butcher costs. In reality, people are probably paying over $5/pound but that is still cheaper than they can get at the store and they know it is local and where it comes from.

Steers averaged 487 lbs and heifers averaged 455 lbs. Getting them off the cows for winter. And some of the calves were heifer's calves that we want to get off the heifers earlier than when we usually sell.
Steers averaged $1.08 per pound and heifers averaged 1.12 per pound.

Same.

Well I feel a little better that Lockhart prices are about the same as Hondo.

I go to Hondo because it is closest and my truck is a POS.

I always hear that the next further ones have better prices.....Fredericksburg, Nixon, Pearsall, maybe Pleasanton..... but I am not going to drive a further distance. I need to be close just in case I have to call a friend to come pick up me and my cattle when my Dodge transmission craters.

I swear it has more to do with the food offered and the day of the week than the actual physical location.

Na Zdrav 87 said:

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Steers averaged 487 lbs and heifers averaged 455 lbs. Getting them off the cows for winter. And some of the calves were heifer's calves that we want to get off the heifers earlier than when we usually sell.
Steers averaged $1.08 per pound and heifers averaged 1.12 per pound.

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About +/- $0.05/lb difference against the Brazos Valley area.

Here's a report from Navasota a year ago...
http://www.navasotalivestock.com/marketreports/2015_10_24.pdf

fightingfarmer09 said:

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I swear it has more to do with the food offered and the day of the week than the actual physical location.

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Half the order buyers in your typical Texas sale barn may go by the nick name "Slim", but it's hard to look the part when you sit on your ass all day.

fightingfarmer09 said:

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I swear it has more to do with the food offered and the day of the week than the actual physical location.

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That's the other thing..... the day of the week. Hondo's sale is Monday, which is convenient for me to catch and deliver on Sunday.

Butter needs to sell at higher prices!

Butter also sells on Mondays, which means I can help Dad haul on Sundays.

wadd96 said:

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Butter also sells on Mondays, which means I can help Dad haul on Sundays.

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I wish my son would see it that way. Almost every time I tell him I will be trying to load cattle on a Sunday, he tells me that he is working. Actually I am kinda proud of him for taking his job and his income seriously, but I do wish he would help me on about three or four Sundays a year. He just passed his 4 year anniversary with the railroad. And because he answers his phone on Saturday night, he gets all the overtime he can stand. The money he makes doing overtime makes my little cattle sales look silly, so I can't blame him.

Part of this is how I earn the yearly trip to Vegas... :-)

Plus Dad cant load them alone.

Glad your son is working hard... we need more like him today.

Nice uptick in prices over the last two weeks, at least via several area auction barns. Plus in this report-- Beeffax

$0.10-0.25/lb bump

We have a roundup scheduled for next Sun-Mon...should have 70 or so calves to take in!

Good to hear. Got a bunch of calves that are ready to go next week also.
Got some smaller calves that I need to pull off first calf cows too.