Calf prices strong at final sale of year

Competition amongst local buyers kept calf prices strong at the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association’s final sale on Saturday in Stratton.
“All the calves sold well. They looked good,” enthused RRCA president Ken McKinnon.

Calf prices were running five to 10 cents higher than other sales in the west, with the highest price going to a pen of Black Angus steers that sold for $1.305/pound.
Quality and lack of stress were the cited as reasons local producers were willing to pay more for the “fresh-off-the-farm” calves.
“I can afford to pay five cents more for calves at this sale because they have not been overly stressed from being hauled long distances or being severely shrunk out,” noted one buyer from Devlin. “There is no sickness in those calves.
“It’s also about supporting our farming community and our local businesses,” he stressed.
Another factor encouraging producers to invest in local calves was the availability of low or no-interest loans through the Rainy River Feeder Finance Corp.
Kari Lemelin, administrator for the feeder finance program and the breeder finance program, reported five applications for the one-year feeder loan program came out of Saturday’s sale, with five having also come from the Oct. 4 calf sale.
Total current participation in the feeder program stands at 25 producers.
The breeder program, which offers five-year loans for breeding stock, has about 20 participants, including 12 who enrolled this year.
“We are seeing an increased interest in young people getting into farming through the breeder program, and we are seeing an increase in established farmers enrolling in the feeder program,” Lemelin observed.
“Which is great! We are here to help the producers get started or to expand,” she enthused.
Anyone interested in the finance programs can reach Lemelin at 486-0157.
Feeder and breeder finance program supervisor, Jack Gustafson, noted there would have been more cattle purchased through the feeder finance program if there had been more available.
Interest from local buyers also may be attributed to the abundant hay crop this past summer, as well as market future forecasts of rising cattle prices over the next year.
“Prices were good compared to other sales, but they are where they were 15 years ago and the price of fuel and fertilizer are much higher,” noted Stratton sales barn manager Clayton Teeple.
There were about 110 cull cows at Saturday’s sale, with prices typically in the 40 cents/pound range, with a number of heavy cows selling for up to $1,000 each.
The 10 bulls being offered topped out at around $1,400.
Seventy-five yearlings and 33 bred cows rounded out the sale.
The RRCA holds four sales per year. Last spring’s sale saw 1,300 cattle sold while the Sept. 6 yearling sale had more than 1,400 head.
The calf sale held Oct. 4 had more than 1,600 animals consigned.
The total for the final sale on Saturday was just over 500 cattle.