With spring green-up underway ranchers cope with their annual case of spring fever. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service reports steers and heifers sold at auction last week $5 per cwt. higher, with instances of $6 to $8 higher.
“Supply is very tight on lightweight feeders and when they do show up there is good active bidding on them,” AMS reporters said. “Buyers pursued all classes of feeder cattle despite high feed cost. The feeder cattle market remains very eager on feeder cattle for grazing to turn them into yearlings that will press down hard on scales late this summer or early fall.”
The supply of yearling feeder cattle weighing 600 to 950 pounds is much greater at auction and saw moderate to good demand last week. Auction volume last week included 52% weighing over 600 pounds and 44% heifers.
Auction receipts totaled 164,400 head last week, compared to 303,200 the previous week and 59,000 last year.
