Maline Seed and Fence is proud to sponsor the Midwest Sheep and Goat market report. Maline seed and fence is your local dealer for Rivera Custom Gates and Goat and Sheep pens AND Mountainview Sheep and Goat equipment. Check out all their products at their website:
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Apologies for the audio issues the past couple of weeks. Click on this link and it will open in a new window.
https://p.ftur.io/krvnam/21684
For the week ending April 1st the Midwest sheep and goat market was $15-$20/cwt lower for most classes of stock. There was one regular weekly sale (Sioux Falls) that noted $10-$15/cwt higher on the midweight slaughter lambs once again. Sioux Falls also noted that replacement quality black face wool ewes continue to be a hot commodity with so far limited supply. We did get a little bit of a test on the replacement market this week. The Midstates hair sheep cooperative hosted their bi-annual seed stock sale. The Co-op noted that the demand was strong with buyers from 10 states participating in the sale. They also noted that higher quality stock brought higher prices. The market felt a little pullback this week, but has not yet signaled a turn lower for the longer trend. We knew at some point pull back was possible given the seasonal cycle of the market. Volume of trade might need to be factored into this week’s market as well. Producers Livestock in Texas saw over 8,000 head through the ring. So far this year anytime we have seen more than 5,000 head roughly through Producers there is some pullback in the market. Colby Kansas sold nearly 1,500 a steady increase over an average weekly run. Columbus Sales Pavilion did not publish a sales report, but did note they expected 900-1,000 head were expected at their Tuesday sale. The increased volume though seems to be pacing with a stronger market and likely a cause for producers to liquidate stock they intended to sell. It could also though continue to highlight the drought in the Southern Plains and likely dwindled feed supplies.
For Ethnic holidays we have Passover coming April 15-23rd, Ramadan April 2nd – May 1st, Roman Easter April 17th, and Greek Easter April 24th.
On the retail side of the market USDA data shows this past week lamb cuts were sharply higher. For the week Roast ads were reported sharply higher, and Chop ads were 39.15% lower. Lamb features offered more ad space for Rack, Bone-In Leg, Boneless Leg and Leg, Shank/Butt. This pickup in retail demand would be expected with Easter demand.
Highlighted quotes this week include the Midstates Hair sheep cooperative sale where they sold 331 hair ewes for an average of $276/hd. The upper end of the ewes brought $432/hd. 29 yearling hair rams sold $241/hd. The top ram sold for $500/hd. Centennial Livestock in Colorado sold 56 head of 114 lb wool slaughter lambs for $179/cwt or $204/hd average. The upper end of the draft brought $260/cwt or $296/hd. Centennial also sold 69 head of 62 lb slaughter goats for $351/cwt or $218/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $370/cwt or $230/hd. Kalona Iowa sold 282 head of wool slaughter lambs weighing 55 lbs for $250/cwt or $137.50/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $305/cwt or $166/hd. Kalona also sold 112 head of 44 lb slaughter goats for $390/cwt or $172/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $454/cwt or $200/hd. Sioux Falls Regional Livestock sold 252 head of 84 lb slaughter wool lambs for $234/cwt or $197/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $265/cwt or $223/hd. Sioux Falls also sold 59 head of 76 lb slaughter goats for $338/cwt or $256/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $350/cwt or $266/hd. Producers Livestock sold 635 head of hair lambs weighing 74 lbs for $237/cwt or $175/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $256/cwt or $189/hd. Producers Livestock sold 293 head of 54 lbs slaughter goats for $408/cwt or $220/hd. The upper end of the draft brought $430/cwt or $232/hd. Colby Livestock sold 11 head of 73 lb wool lambs for $215/cwt or $157/hd. Colby also sold 19 head of 54 lb slaughter goats for $393/cwt or $212/hd.
The grain markets this week were volatile and really came down to USDA data on Friday. USDA released the quarterly stocks report and essentially noted that supplies continue to tighten across the country on the short crop of 2022. That continues to drive a strong basis (cash paid to farmers when they sell physical grain). New crop basis for the crop that will be grown this year though is much lower on expectations we’ll see a much better crop year. USDA also expects through a farmer survey that the US will plant 92 million acres of corn, 87.5 million acres of soybeans and 49.9 million acres of wheat. That gave the buyers advantage to soybeans put some pressure on corn. However given the tightness of stocks it appears the market may find some nearby support.
The haymarket in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado and Wyoming were reported steady with prices still extremely strong. Hay is tough to move in the Northern plains as they were hit with another winter storm bringing significant snow across the Dakotas. Southern plains producers are starting to search well outside of the traditional trade areas for additional hay resources. One Kansas rancher noted securing hay from Illinois. With hay continuing to be in high demand with summer grass either too dry or still snow covered it appears that prices won’t go anywhere anytime soon.
Lamb slaughter this week was estimated at 38,000 head through Saturday. That was an increase of 1,000 head from last week and a decrease of 4,000 head from last year. Year to date lamb slaughter at 451,000 head 6.3% or 27,000 head more than the previous year’s lamb slaughter. Live lamb weights this week were 130 pounds. That was a decrease of 2 lbs from last week and a decrease of 3 pounds from last year. Dressed lamb weights were 66 pounds. That is a decrease 1 lb from last week and last year.
Here is a regional price range from all sales in the report.
Wool lambs
20-40 lbs N/A
40-70 lbs $185-$305/cwt
70lbs & up $167-$295/cwt
Hair lambs
20-40 lbs $200-$265/cwt
40-70 lbs $185-$305/cwt
70 lbs and up $170-$270/cwt
Wool ewes
Stocker N/A
Slaughter $50-$205/cwt
Rams $37.50-$140/cwt
Hair Ewes
Replacement $235-$450/hd
Slaughter $75-$220/hd
Hair Rams $30-$185/cwt
Kid Goats
20-40 lbs $250-$454/cwt
40-70 lbs $250-$430/cwt
70 lbs & up $240-$350/cwt
Wethers
70 lbs & up $188-$318/cwt
Does
Slaughter medium-fleshy $140-$280/hd
Replacement $140-$300/HD
Bucks
Slaughter $200-$273/cwt
Breeding N/A
