Sale report by John Kimbrell, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
Trading was active and demand was mostly moderate to good for all classes offered today; however very good demand was seem for heavy weight steer and heifer calves over 650 lbs. Demand for heavy weight calves was visibly stronger than all other classes of cattle as buyers attempted to position themselves against the board.
Currently the April 2017 live cattle contract is a strong 6 dollar premium to the June 2017 board. This allowed buyers to justify paying equal prices for the same weight cattle as cattle under 650 lbs calculate a breakeven against the June Live cattle contract and cattle over 650 lbs are calculated against the April contact.
Notably, buyers also showed little willingness to pay large premiums for All Natural or NHTC cattle. Cattle that were given these premiums were often fancy, reputation quality calves with a proven history of performance. However, buyers did seemed willing to offer small premiums for weaned calves as most weaned calves sold 3.00-4.00 higher than un-weaned calves. Value Added lots are those cattle that are All Natural or Non Hormone treated cattle (NHTC).
Replacement stock sold on mostly light demand. Most offerings were passed as all buyers showed little willingness to purchase replacement stock. Prices are fob with mostly and mostly a 8-12 cent slide on calves over 700 lbs, while yearling cattle mostly offered a 6-8 cent slide. A 2-3 percent pencil shrink or equivalent was offered on most calves, however some lots weighted straight after long hauls or excessive sorting. Most yearling cattle were weighted on the ground with a 3{2fba0047518ad2e639da733ea78e24abf77cec06f485a26b152e17f2a77aa67a} shrink. Most cattle on offer were also offered on a 40 pound weight and slide stop.
Supply included 67 percent steers and 33 percent heifers. 99 percent of the offering was from the Northcentral Region and mostly from Montana. 56 percent of the sales over 600 lbs.
CLICK HERE to see the final USDA sale report
CLICK HERE for 2016 Early Summer Special Market Report from Northern Livestock Video Sale
To hear what NLVA's Joe Goggins had to say about the sale, see also:
A Look at Calf Prices at the Northern Livestock Video Sale
Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Services
