Eastern Missouri Commission Co.

Saturday afternoon the sun is finally kinda shining - at least it isn't raining. When you're a farmer good black dirt and deep top soil is what you really want but for a person is in the cattle business a week like this with 7 inches of rain even the word "mud" takes on a life of its own. I'm always trying to anticipate what's gonna happen next and I think my next prediction is without a doubt a sure thing. After the erosion I've seen this week I predict Louisiana is gonna get quite a bit bigger in May. Sometimes the rain doesn't come and then there are other times when the rain just comes at exactly the wrong time. I suppose that by the time this makes it to you we will see corn at least 50 cents higher than 10 days ago. I'm sure that the corn will eventually get planted and hopefully for the sake of our cattle feeders corn will be reasonably priced. If April showers bring May flowers we I think we ought to have a bumper crop.

As I write, it is beginning to appear that the spring surge in the fed cattle market is beginning to peter out. Apparently the "swine flu" is having an influence on business travel and restaurant consumption patterns. The pork guys are actually taking a bath over public perception that people can contract "swine flu" from eating pork. When I first heard that I thought it was just a few fringe types but then I read where the Russian government shut off American pork imports. If that wasn't enough, the wild boars in the boar exhibit in the Iraqi national zoo were all eradicated also. I'm always amazed at how fear exasperates ignorance.

Locally our calf and feeder market followed the fed cattle market up and has remained strong even though the fat market is losing steam. This time of year even though they might weigh the same there is a big difference in the value of a 6 wt soft calf and a 600lb hard yearling.

I had several positive calls concerning last month’s article about our growing business. I hope all our new customers are satisfied with the experience. Thanks also again to our current customers. In the livestock marketing business, a certain volume of offerings can be very helpful in pricing. All of us together are keeping the market in Bowling Green a great place for a livestock market.

I'm going close this article a little early this month because tonight is prom night for Centralia. My oldest daughter Sierra (the columnist) and my #2 daughter Savannah are both attending so there is a pretty tight schedule, for the dress and make up putting on, the hair putting up and the prom band getting down. As the world is pretty small Savannahs date will be Tyler Martin who is Bill Martin's grand son (retire president of Perry state bank). I hope they have fun this weekend. The point is that will have to be all for now - its picture time.

As I was sternly approached, I looked into a somber face of a consigner and was told, “Jon, there must be some kind of mistake…. my cow lost money.” The first thought that ran through my head was something to the effect of “welcome to the cattle business.” Most of us understand you aren’t a real cattleman until you have a string of wreak stories to share with others. It’s a part of our collective cowboy culture. These stories of woe are really useful to tell others thinking about embarking in a cattle enterprise. It helps to limit competition and to keep cattlemen in an elite circle of folks. I replied, “what do you mean you lost money?”

“The cow I just sold brought eight dollars less than I paid for her,” he said. It was about this time that his somber face transformed into one of those “I hit the jackpot” type grins.

Art explained, “Six years ago I bought this cow as a short and solid mouth third period cow. Since then I sold all the male calves out of her, which brought me in over $1800. Plus she had had one heifer calf that I kept back as a replacement and still own. I sold her today and she brought eight dollars a head less than I gave for her six years ago.”

It turns out, although he started out in a friendly bout of orneriness, Art was an extremely happy consignor. I am often solicited for advice on money making opportunities. Art’s story helps to illustrate a couple of my standard suggestions. Bred solid mouth cows are often sold at a deep discount to young cows and heifers. This offers a much lower cost of entry for new participants. These cows also offer a general overall lower risk profile since they are often bought at a discount rather than a premium like the younger females.

I am often horrified by the beginning cattleman who wants to start off with a large group of young top of the line heifers. This is a similar to a sixteen year old boy buying a corvette for a first car. The odds of this having an optimal out come are extremely low. This also brings to mind the old saying about matching a horse and a rider; one of them needs to know what’s going on, you don’t match up a green horse with a green rider. The other major benefit to an older cow is she is experienced, and knows what’s going on. A lot of cows mouth-out to be short and solid around 8 years old. In our area of the country it is not uncommon for some cows to be productive as 12 to 16 year olds and some even much older.

Regardless of whether you buy young cows or old cows, they all grow old, might show up as open, or need to be culled for a variety of reasons. It doesn’t take many cows like Art’s to make bred solid mouth cows a good buy. If nothing else I hope this gives some of you the idea that this is a valid consideration.