APACHE - Area cattle producers are being affected as market prices continue to fall due to economic uncertainty.
Stockman Oklahoma Livestock Marketing, Inc., located along State Highway 19 in Apache, has reported a significant drop in the number of cattle being brought in for auction over the last month due to the decrease in market prices.
Operating auctions every Thursday, Stockman’s co-owner Bob Rodenberger says he noticed the market price per pound began to drop dramatically about 30 days ago.
In mid-February local cattle were selling at close to $1.40 per pound. Now, just one month later, the market is sitting at about $1.10 per pound.
Due to uncertainty with economic cash flow and job insecurity regarding current COVID-19 concerns, Bob explained that the low market has “impacted everybody.”
On average Stockman’s usually holds receipts for 2,000-3,000 head of cattle sold this time of year. But at the March 12 auction only 981 receipts were recorded. And, as of March 19, only 288 head of cattle were brought in for sale by local producers.
“This is abnormal. I’ve been in this business 40 years and have never seen this,” said Bob. “We’ve never been in a disease, fear-driven market before. Cattlemen fear their cattle aren’t worth enough and they don’t want to take the price, and the people buying are worried about having no economic cash flow.”
“Until we get out of this coronavirus fear and see where we’re at, it’s probably going to stay the same for a while.”
Stockman’s serves mostly small cattle producers within a 100-mile radius of Apache, Bob explained, including Comanche, Caddo, Kiowa, Grady and Stephens County.
With the “average shipper” bringing in 10 head of cattle for sale at auction, the recent price drop in the market equates to about a $200 loss per head for local farmers.
Last Thursday, sellers weren’t commenting a whole lot though, said Bob. Not because there’s nothing to say about the recent turn of events, but according to Bob, the sellers just weren’t there to say anything.
“We had more buyers than sellers,” Bob said. “The buyers were wanting to buy, but the people weren’t wanting to take the price. There’s still a demand for cattle. The people just aren’t willing to sell.”
For now, Stockman’s say they will still be holding their regularly scheduled auctions, but due to COVID-19, have requested that sellers and buyers “minimize” their time spent at the auction.
For more information, Stockman Oklahoma Livestock Marketing Inc., can be reached at 888-926-9696.