Full-Service Cattle Sales & Marketing serving the Fallon, Nevada and Outlying Areas.
Starting in September we will go back to Friday Feeder Sales. ALL SALES BEGIN AT 12:00 NOON
Market is Popping
| Market is really popping. We knew it was coming we just didn’t know when. Well it is here now! Good cows and bulls all bringing over $1.00 a pound and yearlings and calves jumping 10 cents higher week after week. National cow numbers are already extremely low and wide spread drought continues to plague much of the cattle country. Record high feed costs are driving more cows to the market everyday lowering next year’s calf crop. If we can ever bust out of this drought folks are going to start keeping heifers to rebuild herds and the supply of fat cattle will diminish even further. We are supposed to keep heifers when they are cheap and sell when they are high but because expenses are high and the cattle business has very low profitability, we have to sell the heifers to pay the bills. Then when the market gets hot our cull cows, bulls and steers bring good enough prices to pay the bills so we are able to retain heifers. The experts are predicting our market could be good for a minimum of two years but I think we have slaughtered way more replacement heifers and cows than anybody knows. That being said, let’s hope these prices continue to climb and stay good for a five year cycle instead of two. One thing that really concerns me and I think Cattlemen’s Associations, politicians and other officials need to be talking about it. The American taxpayers have forked out alot of money to help build these regional packing plants all the while they were getting hosed at the grocery store paying record high prices for beef. These 200 to 1000 head plants that were built relying heavily on government funding are going to have their grand openings right at the exact same time as we hit record low fat cattle supplies. I am worried that the Big 4 can dip into the 100s of billions they have profited in the last 7 years and drop their boxed beef prices to below production to snuff out these brand new state of the art facilities. Remember during the planedemic when NCBA’s solution to the low fat cattle prices and high boxed beef prices was to get the Big 4 plants more hook space? They thought these mostly foreign owned companies that are profiting billions off the American consumers at the expense of the broke American ranchers and farmers should get government funding to put in more hook space. I am concerned that their plan is going to work out perfectly. The taxpayers build brand new plants, the new start up companies immediately go broke because of high fat cattle and low boxed beef, and the big dogs snap up these new plants for pennies on the dollar and Whalaa the Big 4 got more hook space just like they wanted and we paid for it. I hope I am wrong but I really think something needs to be done to limit how much of our food supply can be controlled by the Big 4 and by foreign owned companies. Let’s keep up the good fight and not let down our guard just because the cattle market is turning around. We have either been eeking by or going broke for way too long. They say the cattle market goes in cycles, well it’s been the packers turn for 7 years and we are hoping to get 2 or 3 good years. Let’s balance it out where everyone can be profitable and we can lower costs for the consumers. Which will only increase demand. As I see it we need The Cattle Market Transparency Act, Truth in labeling, (imports from Brazil were 36% higher in the first half of 2022 than in 2021) and to reform the beef checkoff program that is being used to lobby against those who pay for it and benefits the packing industry exclusively thanks to packer controlled NCBA. We also need to take a serious look at the CME cattle futures and look for healthy changes. LRP (Livestock Risk Protection) programs are a great way for producers to limit their risk without having to pay gigantic margin calls through CME but by so many folks jumping into LRP and out of CME we have essentially drained more water out of a very shallow pool. Now a small amount of money can have a huge effect on the Cattle Futures market. Lease or buy more country and increase your cow herds because good times are ahead of US for a minute. Be smart about it and stay profitable. Speaking of politics watch for an event for Adam Laxalt on October 7th much like the rally we had for Donald Trump in 2019. Just last week the senate had a tie vote and Vice President Harris was the tie breaking vote. That should scare Americans to their core. The race in Nevada between Republican Adam Laxalt and Democrat Masto is going to be a critical tie breaker in Washington. Masto is a great campaigner and has a good team reaching out to rural Nevadans but she can’t deny her voting record in Washington where she has sided with Biden and the radical left 94% of the time. We need Adam Laxalt in the senate along with many other strong Republicans. We need these politicians to know that NCA and NCBA DO NOT represent the sentiments of all Nevada livestock producers and these politicians need to be very attentive to what the livestock industry wants as a whole and to not just listen to 4 or 5 of the Cattlemen’s Associations elites for advice. This has gone on for way too long and now we are paying the price. Here’s the cattle industry’s chance to let Adam Laxalt and other Republicans candidates know Number 1) We support them and Number 2) We want a voice as independent producers. Watch Nevada Livestock Marketing’s Facebook page for more information and updates. Hopefully we will get some major power players in as guest speakers for the October 7th Rally and campaign event for Adam’s critical Nevada Senate race. Stay tuned! |
| Mr. Jack Payne currently serves as the regional director for California and Nevada at the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association. He owns and operates Nevada Livestock Marketing in Fallon, Nevada. |