Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC is a full-service livestock auction company.
May 17th (Wednesday) feeder sale 1250 head.
Around 600 feeders and the balance of the sale were pairs and bred cows. Feeders were lightly tested in most weight classes but definitely were softer. Softer due to quality of cattle somewhat but mostly just the time of year. Buyers are getting full, California run is on and buyers are over there filling up on fat soft calves. Pairs were in good demand. There were some nice young angus pairs from outside country that brought $2600. Summer calving bred cows up to $1875 for the youngest. The crossbred cows sold surprisingly close to the angus.
What a crazy roller coaster of a year. This global warming sure keeps us guessing. Record moisture in the winter and cold cold spring. Then the wind blew nonstop for 2 weeks and it stayed chilly. Grass wouldn’t grow and it got really dry. It looked like we were in big trouble with another short feed year staring us down after such a brutal winter. But just in the knick of time we were blessed with some beautiful rain. The timing must have been perfect because the feed shot out of the ground. Hopefully the Mormon crickets don’t eat all of it. Unfortunately the ground didn’t freeze last winter and we are going to have a bumper crop of crickets. Oddly enough I see dozens of bull snakes everyday but yet to see a rattlesnake which seems strange.
Please join us at the United States Cattlemens Association annual summer meeting July 10th through the 12th at the Silver Legacy in Reno. Checkoff will be one of the main topics of discussion. It’s time to take control of OUR checkoff dollars away from NCBA. Too much of our money is being used to lobby against us, the cattle producers who pay the tab. NCBA is against the OFF ACT, against Cattle Market Transparency Act, yet they are trying to shove mandatory animal ID down our throats. We are already losing producers at an alarming rate and they want to continue making us less profitable and more incumbered with unnecessary animal ID. Myself for example I have a lot of cattle that don’t see a corral once in 2 years. We gather once or twice a year with the helicopter and make sure we get our bulls gathered to trich test but no matter how much money we spend with the chopper we still miss a few wild cows and their calves. I went to start a well yesterday and there is a 2 year old steer that hasn’t been seen since he was branded as a baby. What am I supposed to do with him when mandatory animal ID kicks in? Every time we turn around the producers get squeezed a little more and the packers get wealthier. They are on rapid pace to vertical integration where you and I will simply be an employee to the big 4 just like the hog and chicken industry. They must really think it’s funny to use our money to fund a Cattlemens Association controlled by the packers while they pretend to be pro livestock producer. And We just sit back and let them and spend our time bickering amongst ourselves while they rob us blind. I hope Trump wins the presidency again, if he does WE HAVE to get his attention on the livestock industry and not allow NCBA do build that iron curtain around him like they did in his first term. I firmly believe he would fight for the small producers but not if he listens to the wolves in sheep’s clothing at NCBA.
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Hope to see you at the sale.