Cattle Sales

Little rainfall makes it tough to put a hay crop together Now Reporter Sarah Gustin travels to Dickinson to show you how the dry conditions aren t filling up the hay yards but the sales barn All because it didn t rain LARRY SCHNELL GENERAL MANAGER WELL WE HAVE HAD OTHER YEARS LIKE THIS WHERE IT HAS BEEN REAL DRY THINKING BACK ALL THE WAY 79-80 WOULD BE THE CLOSEST COMPARISON AT THAT TIME WE SAW A LOT OF PAIRS MOVING AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE SEENG NOW Stockman s Livestock Exchange in Dickinson is seeing more activity than what it is typical for this time of year Cow calf pairs are suppose to be out on grass this time of year not in the sale barn Schnell says they have been selling cow calf pairs since early May And he says during the month of June alone 35-hundred more cows came though the ring compared to a year ago Larry Schnell General Mananger AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE PAIRS OF COURSE BUT ALOT OF THESE OLDER COWS ARE BEING SOLD SOME OF THESE GUYS ARE WEANING THEIR CALVES AND SELLING THE COWS SO IT IS QUITE ALOT DIFFERENT THAN A NORMAL YEAR And the cows at today s sale won t be the only ones Schnell says so far it has been mostly blemished and older cows but he soon he expecting the younger ones to start coming through And for producers it is not just selling a cow or two it s selling a piece of your livelyhood Larry Schnell General Mananger IT TAKES MANY YEARS TO BUILD UP THE GENETICS THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO BE LIVING WITH SO IN HAVING TO SELL THAT THAT IS NOT A GOOD SITUATION AND IT IS NOT THAT EASY TO DO And though it doesn t make up for losing your cow herd Schnell says there is one silver lining to the black cloud Larry Schnell General Mananger THE SLAUGHTER COW AND BULL MARKETS ARE AS GOOD OR AS CLOSE TO RECORD PRICES AND THERE HAS BEEN ALOT OF DEMAND FOR COW CALF PAIRS FROM AREAS NOT TO FAR AWAY THAT HAVE REALLY GOOD MOISTURE AND GOOD GRASS At Stockmen s West in Dickinson Reporting for KX News I am Sarah Gustin Schnell says alot of calves will be weaned and sold at least a month earlier than normal because of the dry conditions And one rancher we visited with recently sold his entire herd