This is Dyersville hay price around here we alfalfa producers have killed most fields as you can’t hardly give away alfalfa.

https://www.dyersvillehayandstrawauction.net/results

You guys are absolutely ignorant of cattle and the way the market works.

..please enlightness then

My boys only shot 7 last year down from 10 the year before. They let a lot walk. We were out of deer about April and I bought a cow from my hay guy and he took it off. I was hopeful it would last tell deer seasion but I was not sure with my boys growing like weeds and the wife and I going low carb and meat consumption going up.

I know I am but I need to learn.

"we alfalfa producers have killed most fields as you can’t hardly give away alfalfa."
What is better hay than alfalfa? Or why?

That statement and some of this topic seem odd to me.
Real good rainfall over here, maybe too much.
I'll try and post local meat prices later today.

Not trying to argue.
Am trying to learn.

Local cutter #1 1/4 beef $900 CWF

Local cutter #2 1/2 pig or 1/2 beef $2.99lb CWF

Per their advertising

I would sure like to know how the cattle market works beings I am from Montana I have no clue. Waiting with baited breath for the answer.

There really isn’t much better but the beef cow producer really never wanted to pay for quality, like the dairy producers will, a lot of beef producers will feed junk and as long as they live they’re happy.

beef cows will need some (roughage) poorer hay along with better feed to stay warm in winter. strait alfalfa is not a good choice for beef maintance.also most beef cows are dry in the winter(not lactating) so do not need the high quality hay that is needed in producing milk like the dairies do.also finishing a beef is a differant story. price for hay is also a factor not so much now but 3 or 4 years ago it was 300 dollars per ton. i will feed 2 to 3 tons per day in the winter.

Yes straight alfalfa is not the best for beef cows, especially as stated when calves are weaned off and they are not lactating. Those that have got rid of alfalfa due to low prices many times do not live where the forage needs are when it is dry. Also with the huge increases in transportation costs moving bulky forages hundreds of miles really as lowered the producer prices for those marketing forages. Another factor when having poor or limited pasture is not only the feed to buy, it can mean the cows are lactating less and calves grow slower and that costs money too. Also in really tight feed supply times cows may not replenish body condition to get ready for the next calving season.

Bryce

......supply and demand

A new fat kill started up this spring in North Platte NE. I believe it is a co-op among ranchers. Wal mart is getting the beef.

I have made a living in the cattle industry for 40 years. 20 years ago you could buy a good beef for $1.85 a lb and a new Ford F350 for around $35,000
10 years ago you could buy a good beef for $ 1.95 and a new Ford F 350 for $45,000
5 years ago you could buy a good beef for $2.10 a lb and a new Ford F 350 for $60,000
Now we can finally sell calves for enough to play catch up and buy a new Ford F 350 for $80,000
Cattlemen have historically work for the bank. You make enough money to pay down your operating loan so you can get the same loan next year to keep operating.
Its a lifestyle not a get rich quick plan. As long as the Mexico border stays closed there will be no decline in cattle prices. And the cattle inventory is at a all time low.

wow nice we need more of this~

I talked to a guy that said he sold 650 lb calves for 4.50 per lb on the hoof. Nobody can pencil out a profit by feeding these calves out to 1300 lbs.
Nebraska G&P has a "hunters helping the hungry" program where a hunter can shoot a deer and if they don't want the meat they can pay for the processing and donate it to the program. Thing is, "hungry" people get EBT cards so they can eat beef, pork, chicken, hot dogs, pizza, whatever doesn't require much work. Nobody "hungry" really wants the deer meat {all ground into burger} so it's available to anybody that wants it. We get a good supply and mix it in with pork to make sausage, summer sausage, jerky etc. It's good stuff.

I used to haul trash out of the Tyson beef plant in Lexington NE. There were semis from Canada sitting there at daylight waiting to unload fat cattle. There's not an excess of slaughterhouses anymore. And any town that has one has a population of sketchy people.

Has anyone heard how the packing plant in Mills county Iowa is coming?

The Mills county meat packing plant when completed will slaughter over 500K head per year, have a work force of 800 people and cater to smaller ranchers and beef producers. All or most of all the paper work and studies are complete and construction is anticpated to start this year. I don't know what a completion and usage time line will be. I have no experience how long it takes to put a major packing plant up and running.

Bryce

Cattle numbers worldwide are down. They’re a commodity, supply vs demand.