Dear Cattle Producers,

It´s hard to believe it´s already past Labor Day; what an unusually short, cool summer. Hopefully with all the moisture we´ll get a nice Indian Summer to take advantage of the extra re-growth from pastures and hay fields. It has been a good year for crop yields as well, with some reports of record barley and wheat yields and hay yields back to normal.

It´s also been an exciting summer for the cattle market across the west. The summer video sales have been very strong with excellent demand on all classes of Feeder Cattle. In the Superior Video Sale in Winnemucca, NV several sets of Red Angus Calves set the limit with 860# Steers @ 110.50 from DeLong Ranches, 460# Steers @ 140.50 from Mary Otley, and Skinner Ranches sold 550# Steers @ 125.50.

The market hasn´t shown any signs of slowing down as of yet and we are looking forward to strong demand and high calf prices through the fall run. This brings me to some important information for those of you who sell your weaned calves in the Fall.

In the past, the Sale Yards and Auction Barns have held special Feeder Sales on certain days through the Fall. This year we would like to create special Red Angus influenced sections to coincide with these sale dates. This would bring special attention to Red Angus influenced calves and have them sell in special sections designated as such. This will help identify the cattle as to breed, and help to age and Source Verify your calves, making them more desirable for buyers who want similar types of calves. It is becoming more and more well known as to the do-ability and consistent performance that can be expected from Red Angus sired calves, as demand continues to grow.

We have listed the Dates of these Sales for a couple of Sale Yards and contact information for them in our area.

We encourage you to talk to the Sale Managers in your area or where ever you prefer to sell your calves if different from the ones we have listed to bring added attention to your calves.

Stockland Livestock Auction, Davenport WA.
Ted Kerst, Manager 509-994-7743 Cell
Stock Yards 509- 725-1101
Spokane Office 800-372-6845
Market Recording 509-838-8012

Regular Sale – Feeders September 20
Regular Sale Feeders October 4th
Car Load Sale October 9th Saturday 20 Head Minimum
Regular Sale Feeders October 11

First Saturday of November is the annual Stock Cow Sale.

The early October sales are well attended by buyers and would be a good time for small lots of calves (under 20 head) however, the Carload Sale for primarily large lots, is a special feeder calf sale and will have a few extra buyers there. Ted also encourages producers to pool cattle of similar weights and breed make up to create larger lot sizes. He also asks that you contact him a couple weeks in advance so that he can include your calves in his advertisements. If you would like assistance in making contact with the Sale Barn or if we can assist you in pooling calves with other producers feel free to call to let us know how we can help. By working together hopefully we can help each other add value to our Red Angus Sired Calves.

Lewiston Livestock Auction
Clay Bickford 208-791-5090
Feeder Sales 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month.
Bred Females 2nd week in November

Direct marketing to the feedlots is also an excellent choice on larger truck load lots. Usually these direct Sales are based on load lots determined by total net weight. Usually 48 to 50,000 lbs. of cattle per load. There are several ways to sell these large load lots and it´s always good to get several bids for your offering.

Bred Heifer News

Once again, we will be offering a nice set of bred heifers, mostly Red-hided. The commercial heifers are crossbred with percentage Simmental and some with Gelbvieh and Hereford. These heifers were pasture exposed from May 1 through July 10 to V-X bulls specifically intended for calving ease with optimal growth. The commercial heifers will be grouped and penned as to breed make-up, frame size, and color. We will be selling 50 head of these.

The purebred heifers were synchronized and bred to 6 different bulls from May 1 through May 5, some AI and some by natural service. They were then split into two groups and pasture-exposed to two different bulls. We will be selling 20 of these. In order to allow an opportunity to the top cut of these heifers, we will pair the top 20 head and sell them together, but only 1 heifer from each pair sells. You take your pick of which one you want and we keep the other one.

Individual data will be available on the heifers, they will be vaccinated, dewormed, and guaranteed bred. We will utilize the same foremat for the sale procedures as we use on the spring bull sale, selling each lot to the highest bidder through a gentleman´s auction. Also to coincide with the heifer sale, we will have the bull calves penned nearby to allow you to walk through them for a sneak preview as to what will be available next spring.

The sale will be Saturday, October 23rd. Lunch is at noon and the sale starts at 1pm. We recommend you bring your trailer, but if you will need assistance in hauling we will be glad to assist you. We will load out the heifers immediately after the sale.

Hope you have a great Fall.

The Wood´s Family