Selling Points

Nebraska cowman embraces feeder-cattle program to communicate value to today’s feeder.

The customer has changed, says Nebraska cattleman Chris Vinton, recalling the Illinois farmer-feeders who bought calves from his dad.

“When I was a little kid, I remember them coming out. They’d spend a week with us, look at the cattle, and Dad and them would make a deal,” he recalls. Then they’d truck the cattle clear back to Mount Carroll, Ill.

Repeat customers, it got to the point where they would agree on a price for the cattle over the phone sight-unseen.

In The Cattle Markets

U.S. cattle inventory growth slows.

The USDA Cattle report released in late February showed an estimated 0.5% growth in all cattle and calves for a total of 94.8 million head in the United States Jan. 1, 2019. The U.S. calf crop estimate of 36.4 million head showed 644,500 (1.8%) more calves were born in 2018 than in 2017, which marked the fourth consecutive year of calf-crop increases.

Gains Slip in Winter Weather

Feedyard performance slips as costs rise.

Heavy winter precipitation has continued at intervals spanning December through early March, while brutally cold temperatures added often devastating effects. Sub-zero readings continued into mid-March in many areas. The full effect has yet to be measured in the feedlot sector, but average daily gains and feed conversion ratios on pen closeouts are starting to reveal the trend.