Feeder Flash 4/29: $250 Top Blown Off

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:05]I'm Corbett Wall with DV Auction here with your feeder flash for Wednesday, April the 29th, brought to you in part by Superior Steel Sales in Carthage, Missouri. Guys, that is home of Superior Standard Livestock Equipment. They have got all kinds of heavy duty stuff you can incorporate right into your existing corrals. They've got feeders. They've got adjustable alleyways. They've got freestanding panels if you need to uh make some bigger traps there. They've got cattle guards you can put down loading shoots and they're the coolest.

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[00:01:12]$250 top blown off. And I do mean blown off. I tell you what, Tuesday was about the most bullish cattle day uh that we've had for a long, long time. And that's saying something. This market has been vertically up, especially the last two years, but it's been up for the last 5 years, but never a day more uh bullish than than Tuesday. And I'm talking about the fat cattle market. A few weeks ago, we did have a day where fat cattle were $10 higher, but they did not blow past everybody's uh top that they thought we were going to have trouble getting by. I never thought we would get past 250. I never thought we would see a weighted average of 250 cash fed cattle in a negotiated trade in your five area. It's going to be over 252, likely over 253 by the time we get done this week, guys. It just zoomed past it. They didn't even they didn't even look at it here. a couple of weeks ago, you know, come up there and kept bumping 250 and they wouldn't give it wouldn't give it and and they backed the feeders back off and uh it just looked like that was a threshold they would not cross. Well, they didn't have any trouble crossing it on uh Tuesday and I will guarantee you that no packer or cattle feeder woke up on Tuesday morning expecting cattle to sell over 255 on Tuesday. But they did.

[00:02:38]Why did they do that? From transparency, guys. Uh I've told you, you got to have a transparent uh competitive market that in in the market loves transparency, guys, when you can get it. But uh they've got about got this fat cattle deal where there's no transparency in it at all. You have to cling to it when you get an opportunity to get it. last Friday. The only transparency we saw was in the Fed cattle exchange online platform and uh you know the board was falling hard on Friday and just falling and falling and falling and then everybody was down in the doldrums and then they had that late morning fed cattle exchange online fat cattle auction and we saw packers competitively bidding there and they gave 247 for some cattle. The market was 246. They gave 247 for some cattle immediately. I mean I mean the the board stopped going down and then and then later in the session started coming up a little bit. It it was amazing how that happens cuz you can see what's going on with the transparency. The bulk of the sales trade uh way out front. They trade on a formula type deal. You can go in and look how the formulas go together, but the price spreads are so wide you can't make heads or tails out of it. and you can't compare apples to apples. You don't know what's going on. Well, on Tuesday, uh the the transparency come from a brick andmortar sale barn, namely Stockman's Livestock Market in Yankton, South Dakota. We we talk about them every week. They're the best fat cattle market in the nation. And uh and they sell right up front. And uh you know, like I always say, the town drunk can go in there and see what's going on. Well, luckily, we got Gary Marks in there.

[00:04:25]He's not the town drunk, but I tell you what, Gary is a friend of ours. He's an old fat cattle buyer. He's retired.

[00:04:32]Drives up from Norfor, Nebraska. Goes up to that sale at Yankton. And he likes being in watching the market and seeing what's going on. Likes to be up on what's going on. And I tell you what, he is about the only voice coming out of there. And he comes to to this platform to put it out. But I tell you what, people out in the business know what's going on at Yankton. The the USDA livestock market news is not in Yankton.

[00:05:00]You know, tell me why they're not in there. Uh it's unbelievable that they're they're not there, but they're not reporting that market, but the industry still knows what's going on. Tell you what, these text messages were flying out of there. And not long after 8:00 in the morning, uh Gary was sending me quotes like this one, which is 37 fat non-implanted heers weighing 14 1/2 and bringing 261.

[00:05:27]Tell you what, when uh when that got out and it got out all over, uh it it was not too long before those 250 bids that the Packers had come out with uh those 250 bids were being shunned and then they went up to 252 immediately. Started seeing some 252 trade, couldn't get all the cattle, he went to 253, couldn't get them. Got 254 cattle were were being bid 255. I mean, just every time my phone buzzed is another 50 cents or a buck a 100, it was going up. And we finally went all the way up to 257 uh cash paid in Western Nebraska by major. And uh and it may have been even higher than that. And I wouldn't be surprised if it was. It was an amazing amazing day. And I tell you what, remember that the last week of April 2026 is when it happened, guys. But uh but we you got to love transparency when you see it. Competition and transparency together. You get it there at a fat cattle auction which we don't have near enough of and you can get it on that online platform through central stockyards with fed cattle exchange too.

[00:06:34]But this time was from the fat cattle auction. But I tell you what, as as we started seeing that trade get higher, word got out that the trade was higher.

[00:06:43]Then the board started going up. And then as the board was going up, the Packers had to keep raising their bids uh to keep up with the board. It was amazing. And some people, you know, that traded a little bit earlier in the day, of course, they didn't know what was going to happen. Uh they ended up having to take a negative basis, but uh by the time the late sales were out and it was quite a bit of 255 before it went on beyond that, you know, those were those were uh those were positive basis deals there. So guys were really getting along good on some cattle that likely had a higher break even and they needed that on them. So it was a really great day there guys. Uh what else happened in the in the industry? I tell you what, uh some some news that nobody paid much attention to, but it's kind of significant. the state of Florida, their department of agriculture issued an import restriction to six South Texas counties. Uh that they're they're going to put restrictions on those cattle coming in. The counties are Zapata, uh Jim Hog, Star, Halgo, Web, and Brooks counties in South Texas. They're scared of the screworm. Of course, there's not that many cattle that typically go from South Texas to Florida. That's kind of going against the grain. you normally ship cattle to the west, but they don't want them over there. And uh there could be a few uh few purebred cattle or from breeding stock that might be going over there, but they if any cattle are coming from those counties in Texas into the state of Florida, they are h they have to be certified vet inspected within 7 days of when they're imported. Uh any wounds that they have have to be treated by a vet, guys. And uh they're going to be real sticklers on that. So that is not going to cause the border to Mexico to open up anytime on cattle anytime soon. But uh we we didn't hear any scuttlebutt about the border opening. We didn't hear any more trop talk much about the plant strikes or walkouts or anything like that. But it was just really really bullish on your fat cattle trade there. And it was on negotiated trade. I mean, it's just like what we want, negotiated trade. And you say, "Well, we've had pretty good negotiated trade last week and the week before. We had a huge week of movement. Why are these packers so short?" Well, I've been telling you every week when we have the roundup on there, the the number of formula cattle that they're getting is just not as big.

[00:09:12]And those formula cattle, those are mostly uh your bigger feed yard feeder operations there. uh your your corporate feeders and your bigger uh family feeding operations and those and you think, well, why aren't they getting much cattle from those? Well, part of it is because we don't have the Mexican cattle in there. Uh about a year ago, a little over a year ago, we were getting the last drips of Mexican cattle imported into this country. Those cattle are all gone. There might be a few straggling along, but not very many, guys. and uh and a lot of those uh feeders have went have transitioned into beef on dairy cattle, but it wasn't immediate uh until they were, you know, certain that we weren't going to get any Mexican cattle in. They didn't switch over. So, there's a gap there. And uh the beef on dairy cattle, I believe, are going to make take up a bigger part of this market and more pin space and more hook space than your Mexican cattle did.

[00:10:12]But we're not quite there yet. Uh we haven't we haven't it hasn't hit its bloom yet. But I think it'll I think it'll make the Mexican import cattle pale in comparison when we get this beef on dairy fully done. But we've got a gap right here where these packers are short of cattle. They, you know, they've been they've been getting about 200,000 cattle a week uh through their formulas.

[00:10:35]Well, before all that happened, they were getting 250 or 280,000 a week. So that's their gap right there. And they've got to have cattle if they're going to continue to operate. And box beef cutout values did not help them out on Tuesday. So it wasn't any of that. We are expecting it to get a little bit more rust on your box beef cutout mark market, but uh not yet guys. But uh I want to tell you about Farmington Regional Stockyards in Farmington, Missouri. That's over towards the bootill. Not down in the bootill, but in southeast Missouri, guys. They're having a special cow sale on May the 2nd, this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. They've got some really impressive consignments there, guys. I talked to Clay Burke there on Tuesday afternoon. He was telling me about them. They got the old Laughlin bred heers in there. They've got 100 black baldy heers and 80 black heers. Uh the the hundred black baldies I believe were bred to black bulls and the the blacks were bred to herford bulls, but they are top top quality. A lot of them were homeraised. They they were real particular in the ones that they purchased to put with them where they really matched well. I tell you what, that is a slick slick deal. Then they got the CRS cattle company coming in with 94 three-year-old cows coming with their second calf. Now, part of them are AI bred and part of them are are naturally bred. You can get all the details there on farmington regional stockyards.com.

[00:12:07]They've got videos of all these cattle.

[00:12:09]They've got the pedigrees of the bulls.

[00:12:11]Get on there and check it out. I mean, you can't find cattle any slicker than this. I don't care where you go in the country, guys. And then they had Chase Clanton coming in with 50 head of 3 to sixy old Angus commercial Angus bred cows there that start CVing in September. But they've got several other smaller consignments coming in. It's going to be quite a special cow sale there. If you can't get to Farmington, Missouri, uh get on and check out the videos at their website and uh and then get ready to get on dvauction.com this Saturday afternoon, May the 2nd at 1:00. It'll be over before the big derby race starts, guys. You can get in there and check that out. Also, I want to tell you about the Nebraska Sand Hills fire relief sale that we're having on DV auction. It's a bid off sale and it ends May the 1st. So, get in there, check out the lots on there, and you're donating that money to people that really need it. They've got a lot of cool stuff on there. They got football tickets.

[00:13:12]They've got Chris Stapleton tickets.

[00:13:14]They've got a a duck or goose hunt there. Then they've got several packages of seaman on there and some really high class, high dollar uh hybrid seaman right there. You can check them out and get on there. Of course, uh it all all goes to a good cause, but get on there and bid and get on there. Don't wait till it's too late. Get on there and bid right now. Uh those bids are going to be taken until May the 1st and that's coming right up. Guys, let's talk about your board on Tuesday. April live cattle futures were up 225 at 25267.

[00:13:48]The the market ended up surpassing that.

[00:13:51]But June was up 455 at 25350.

[00:13:55]June was lagging way behind and now it's flown out there in front guys. Then your back months up 215 to up $3 smooth.

[00:14:03]April feeder cattle were up a dollar a.5 at 37207.

[00:14:08]Uh May contracts on feeder cattle up $427. They were just up $6 over $6 on Monday. Then on Tuesday, that's that's $10 in two days. That's gaining some ground, guys. Uh they closed at $37172 on Tuesday afternoon. Your back months were up 480 to up 537.

[00:14:29]Look at your August out there. All important August. A lot of them late summer grass year is going to be priced off that August contract. It's 37307.

[00:14:40]Let's look at your grains for a minute.

[00:14:42]How about July corn? Up 6 and 1/4 cent a bushel at 475 a.5. Beans were down 2 and 3/4 cent at 11.89 and a quarter. and hard red winter wheat for July up 27 cents. We desperately need moisture in western Oklahoma, western Kansas, and the Texas panhandle. And we were thinking we were going to get flooded out. Now, not even knowing if we're going to get hardly anything, but we're hoping to get some, but up 27 at 7:02 and a quarter. Your fat cattle trade was active and it was fun, guys. I tell you what, uh, the 2:00 deadline for the Packers to turn their information into mandatory price reporting wasn't very interesting, but uh, Iowa did have 640 head confirmed from 250 to 252. Nebraska had 2100 head confirmed at 250 to 252 and dress market from 395 to 396, but they were trading cattle at $4 dressed by the end of the day. Kansas sold 300 head, 250 to 252. Texas 800 head at 250 is all they got on those. But uh I tell you about Stockman's livestock market that started early on Tuesday morning.

[00:15:58]They had a,000 head in overnight. They had 1,500 for the fed cattle auction on Tuesday uh there in Yankton, South Dakota. The conventional cattle sell 3 to $5 higher from 248 to 255 a.5. The program cattle were 6.5 to $8.5 higher than last week from 252.5 to 263 was tops. Tell you what, that is amazing.

[00:16:24]Then after that trade uh in that market there at Yankton, uh we saw direct bids going up up to 255 trade, 256 62 1/2.

[00:16:34]And late on Tuesday, I heard a man that told me that he got 257 in Nebraska to a major out there, guys.

[00:16:43]And uh and I trust him. I tell you what, that happened. Big big time news there.

[00:16:47]That was a big big day, guys. Box beef cutout values were uneven. Choice cuts were down 66 cents at 3.880. That's not going to be too good for your packer margin there. and selects. Uh we're up 18 cents is all at 38878.

[00:17:03]Your slaughter up through the first two days of the week had 215,000 head of cattle estimated slaughter. Uh that was 7,000 more than this point last week. 10,000 less than this point the same week a year ago. Let's talk about what else is going on. Punchy pick of the month. I keep telling you it comes around quicker than a pickup payment.

[00:17:25]Well, that pickup payment is due tomorrow. So, we're going to have Punchy Picks tomorrow, guys. Uh, those are kind of fun, guys. I hope you like them because I have to do a lot of editing to do that and have to go through and pick them and all that. But, I couldn't do Punchy Pick of the Month without our sponsors. Great Plains Livestock Consulting has been a sponsor for quite a while. They give a $200 gift certificate to Cavenders Boot City every single month to the Kids Corral winner.

[00:17:52]Uh, Beaver County Stockyards has been with us from the very start. get lots of cool swag out of Beaver County Stockyards and they got the neatest stuff, but it'll be included in your prize box. A bunch of Beaver County Stockyard stuff. Then you're going to get product and swag from Fairpiece, that revolutionary product that is scientifically proven. Guys, if you haven't started using that already, you're missing out. You got to use therapies, guys. Check out this video I'll attach to the end of this feeder flash episode. Let's talk about your feeder cattle market. Brought to you by Specialty Risk Insurance. They can help you with all of your insurance needs.

[00:18:29]They're right there in Carthage, Missouri. But they can help you anywhere in the world. Just get a hold of them at specialty risk.com. Uh your real time index from DV auction late in the day on Tuesday after all your sales has concluded sitting at 37201.

[00:18:45]That was up a $1.91 from the conclusion of Monday's business. But you look at your steer tracker, the last 25 lots of five head or more that go in that RTI, we're sitting at 3801. So it's going to keep going up, guys. And your latest CME cash feeder cattle index, of course, lagging way behind at 36962.

[00:19:07]Let's talk about your big sales that happened on Tuesday. Of course, Beaver County Stockyards in Beaver, Oklahoma, they had 7,000 head for their Tuesday feeder cattle auction. The feeder steers were $2 to $10 higher. Feeder heers steady to $5 higher. Calves were not well tested where they were. They had a few that were steady. Uh beaver was your superior steel sales stickout sale of the day. You look at this automated marker report through cattle market central and you see your best tested weights which were most of them guys but 163 steers in the fiveeight category averaged 550 lb with a weighted average price of 46231.

[00:19:48]134 head of the six weightights average 664 at 42091.

[00:19:54]396 head of the seven weightight steers averaged 757 at 38299.

[00:20:02]There were 10 or 117 head of eight weightight feeder steers. Where you go to get that guys? They averaged 864 with a weighted average price of 3611.

[00:20:14]There were 1463 head of the nine weight steers. They averaged 938 and average 34151 on the weighted average price. They had another 533 head of 10 weight steers.

[00:20:29]They average 1031 at 32418 on the weighted average guys. Now look at the heers. 117 head of fiveeight heers average 545 at 41011.

[00:20:43]171 head of the sixeight heers average 654 at 38044.

[00:20:49]There were 388 head of the seven weightight heers averaged 767 at 34470 and 1,50 head of eighteight feeder heers at Beaver County Stockyards. They averaged 851 lbs with a weighted average price of 32952.

[00:21:07]Excellent sale there at Beaver again this week. Take a look at Atkinson livestock market in Atkinson, Nebraska.

[00:21:14]This was the first sale ever that was broadcasted on dvauction.com.

[00:21:19]We're glad to have them. We love their market and they get the big prices there. I wanted to give you a few sales that they had in Atkinson. They had 40 little steer pee-wee cavs. They weighed 335 and bring 70250.

[00:21:34]Atkinson had 29 steers weighed 5.87 bring $5 a pound smooth. and they had 40 head of 716-lb steers that bring 453.

[00:21:47]I think that's an all-time high for the nation guys ever. 716 lb steers bringing 453. That's amazing. How about some other individual quotes from all around about Fallon Livestock and Fallon, Nevada, the sail barn just outside of town there. They sold 120 beef on dairy cavs. Weighed 447 and weighed 5.95 on little steers guys. How about Kingsville livestock auction in Kingsville, Missouri. They sold a big swath of heers, green heers come in there. There was 246 head of them. They weighed 714.

[00:22:26]They sold not for replacement. They're either going to feed directly to feed or they're going to graze and then they're going to feed. But 246 head weighed 714 and bring 39550 heers. Now the most impressive quote that I saw anywhere on Tuesday and your macroin no BS top quote for the day come out of Kimble livestock exchange in Kimble South Dakota. They sell 71 steers that weighed 900 lb smooth that bring 36910.

[00:22:58]That's your feeder flash for Wednesday.

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