Here's some great news from the Rapid City Journal:
Booming cattle market ripples through region’s economy
Cary and Codi Reese and Cary’s mother, Colleen Popham, went home happy from the Jan. 19 sale at the Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange.
The Upton, Wyo., area ranch family had sold 50 older butcher cows for an average of 65 cents a pound, about double similar types of cows were bringing three or four years ago.
“I’ve been ranching 50 years,” Popham said. “These are the highest prices I’ve ever seen.”
The higher prices mean more profits to spend.
Dean Strong, owner of Belle Fourche Livestock, said calf and cattle prices have been at record levels over the past year. Last fall, calves were generally selling from $1.25 to $1.50 a pound on the hoof, depending on weight and other factors. “That amounted to $30 to $40 more a head than last year, and last year was pretty good,” Strong said.
The improved market has been a welcome turnaround from the low prices that had persisted for the previous 15 years or so. Three or four years ago, calves were bringing 70 to 80 cents a pound.
For a 600-pound calf, at even $1.25 a pound today, that’s a difference of $300. If a rancher sells 100 calves in the fall, that’s a $30,000 bigger paycheck.
Recent Comments