Midwest sheep and goat market report for the week ending 10/16

Midwest sheep and goat market report for the week ending 10/16
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October 16th, 2021 | Clay Patton

Bull Tackle Feed in Lexington Nebraska sponsors this weekly report. Neal said he has fresh feed in and ready for you. If you’re weaning calves or wanting livestock in good shape before winter talk to Neal for products currently on hand. https://www.facebook.com/bulltackle/

For the week ending October 16th  the Midwest sheep and goat market was steady with both higher and lower undertones. Appears that the fall run of wool feeder lambs is starting in Western states like Colorado. The large supply coming to town can quickly exhaust some buyers, but overall prices held and didn’t give away too much. Kid goat both feeder and slaughter size seem to be higher this week and could indicate a limited push just ahead of Prophet’s birthday on Monday. Demand continues to rebound from a nearby low and improve slightly every week. Seasonally we are just ahead of a run up time to the stronger markets of the mid winter starting around the first of the year. With inflation it appears these prices may have stability for the foreseeable future. However nothing is guaranteed and if inflation starts to impact consumers and tough choices have to be made cheaper proteins may cause prices to slip. 

Ethnic holidays to be aware of include; Prophet’s Birthday  which was mentioned above it is October 18th and 19th. Then we move into the late fall early winter months with Thanksgiving in November then Hanukkah in December and Christmas. Looking into 2022 Ramadan month of fasting is set for April 2nd through May 1st. 

Last week’s USDA retail data has finally become available. For the week ending October 8th. The USDA lamb cuts retail activity index increased by 10.12% compared to the prior week. The roasts increased by 13.95% while chops decreased by 63.26%. Ground Lamb was the most widely featured item among the Lamb features as prices were mixed. Looking at beef and pork retail reports from last week pork was essentially flat, but beef did see an increase in special features. So it would seem that lamb did take some ad space possibly from the pork market. Week to week this isn’t a huge deal, but if lamb can slowly gain more market share at the retail level it could lend to longer term support and higher prices for lamb. 

 Other commodity markets were mixed this week, but gained strength at the end of the week. USDA once again increased corn and soybean yields in their latest production estimates. This initially put pressure on the market, but it appears that the low prices found buyers especially with China who purchased nearly a million metric tons of soybeans this past week. This could signal the start of a harvest low being set in if the strong buying of the physical commodities continue. USDA’s WASDE report also increased beef production numbers with more cows entering the supply chain. While reducing pork and chicken production numbers. USDA did not highlight any lamb production data in the report. 

Other feed input markets to report include the hay market. Kansas and Nebraska hay markets reported steady prices once again this week, but there was little commentary on demand overall. Corn stalks and bean stubble are making a lot of bales currently. With the cool down this past week and the first of many frosty nights to come it appears the final cuttings of hay are likely done for the year. Hopefully the latest rounds of moisture can lend some support to soil moisture going into fall and winter. 

For the week ending 10/15 lamb slaughter under federal inspection was estimated at 33,000 head on Friday. There is an expected Saturday slaughter of 2,000 head. That will bring the total weekly slaughter to 35,000 head. That’s 1,000 head more than the previous week and 3,000 head more than the previous year. Year to date lamb slaughter is at 1,500,000 head. After being slightly behind last year for several months, lamb slaughter in the US has now come back to even with the previous year’s slaughter. Cattle slaughter has continued to keep pace ahead of the previous year at 3.2%. Hog slaughter continues to slide behind 2020 now -1.9% behind. USDA data  for goat slaughter this week was 10,393 head on Friday afternoon. Lamb and mutton production under federal inspection through 10/15 is estimated at 2.1 million pounds. That is up 100,000 pounds from the  previous week. Year to date lamb and mutton production is estimated at 95.3 million pounds. Production continues to drop behind 2020 for the fourth month now by 3.2% or about 2.9 million pounds. The average live lamb weight for the week ending 10/15 was 121 pounds, that was up 3 pounds from the previous week and up 2 pounds from last year. Dressed weights for lambs this week were 61 pounds. That is up 2 pounds from the previous week and up 1 pound from a year ago. 

Sale reports from the week

Here is a regional price range from all sales in the report. For a look at an individual sale follow the links to that sale. 

Wool lambs

40-70 lbs $235-$350/cwt 

70 lbs & up $150-$316/cwt

Hair lambs

20-40 lbs $290-$358/cwt

40-70 lbs $240-$350/cwt

70 lbs and up $200-$300/cwt

Wool ewes 

Slaughter $76-$130/cwt

Replacement N/A 

Wool bucks N/A

Hair Ewes 

Slaughter $85-$270/hd

Hair Rams

Slaughter $130-$200/cwt

Kid Goats

20-40 lbs $230-$390/cwt

40-70 lbs $245-$350/cwt

Does

Slaughter medium-fleshy $150-$235/hd

Replacement $180-$350/HD

Bucks 

Slaughter $140-$220/cwt

Breeding $250-$480/cwt

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