# where will cattle top out?



## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Prices for steers on the rail this week here are $2.85/lb. 10 weights are over $2/lb live. 6 weights are over $3/lb. How is a guy supposed to expand? Cows are to expensive and heifers are worth to much to keep. What are prices like where you are?


----------



## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

We will not know when they top out until it happens and prices drop off some. Even if prices go down from where they are now, cattle are still going to bring good money for some time.

I hesitated to mention mad cow or foot and mouth disease. Mad cow is not the scare it once was, foot and mouth would shut things down in that area. There is always the chance of political shenanigans like opening our doors to foreign beef.

The meat packers can afford to make large political contributions while the individual producer, stocker or feed lot can not. When you have the large majority of beef processed by 4 major packing operations it lends to the notion that they may have the power to open some doors, i.e. cattle border doors.

I am keeping heifers. I am going to ride this out like all the other ups and downs. My plan is to keep my best 10 each year and cull 10 cows once the heifers are in production. I have some cows that will need to go in 3 years.


----------



## dirtball08 (Jun 26, 2011)

Yup same here. Keeping back the top 10 and everything else going no matter what the size. Usually keep the late calves back and sell in Feb, but for the price now, see ya.


----------



## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

I have been holding a lot of heifers the last three years. I am seriously planning to sell my old cows and cull my heifer calves a lot harder this coming season. Mel


----------



## TallPaul (Aug 27, 2014)

Steers here in N.Texas are going at up to $4 and over under 300# Even 600# are bringing $2.50.. and Heifers are the same or more... Almost twice what it was just 3 years ago... I really don't see it going down much for a loooong time...Too many old timers getting out and who can blame them... But with everyone selling their cows off..??? Hoping for more heifers this next spring, a first for me since I always wanted steers before... Looking good in Texas!


----------

