2017 bull sales underway

[jhm47]

The 2017 bull sales began in January. There have been many sales so far, and most have been a success, with prices staying very near the highs of previous years. This week, I will be attending a Simmental sale in North Dakota, and an Angus sale in South Dakota. These sellers are my AI customers, and I always am happy to see that the semen that I sell to these ranches makes superior cattle. I know that the Schaff Angus Valley bull sale was held on Feb 11, and I have been anxious to see the results from that one. That is traditionally the most successful and highest average sale each year. The 2015 high seller there was sold for $725,000.00. There are usually multiple bulls that sell for well in excess of $100,000, and I'm wondering if the lower cattle prices will bring down some of these averages in 2017. The strange thing is that since fed cattle prices have dropped by around 40%, prices in the supermarkets seem to be holding nearly steady.

 

[greybeard]

I see some drop in retail prices, but not 40%. Same with wholesale. Some drop but not back to pre drought sell-off years.

http://www.beefretail.org/wholesalepriceupdate.aspx

 

[jhm47]

I saw on the American Angus Assn website that the high selling bull at Schaff Angus Valley sold for $750,000.00 to Mr. Charles Herbster. He also bought another one for over $400,000.00. Wonder if they can pencil that out?

 

[greybeard]

Heh heh..with no fees or other cuts involved, it would 'only' take 11,500 straws at $100 each to break even.
He bought the top 3 open heifers too--$247,000 total.

From what I saw over on CT, the very low end of that reg sale was still over $5K.

Getting back to retail prices, I was in a regional chain gro store today, and saw a pack of 2, clearly marked "Select" ribeyes for $13.98/lb.

There's definitely something wrong with that picture.

 

[jhm47]

Went to a Simmental sale yesterday. A couple of my customers had their 3rd annual sale. Bulls averaged $4970/head. Not too bad for a couple guys just getting started. They need to invite Herbster to their sale next year!