Graham cattle auction posts record as drought deepens

The cattle auction barn in Graham posted both record sales and falling prices as farmers struggling with drought-stricken pastures and rising feed prices sold off stock, Ronnie Hardin, co-owner of the Graham Livestock Commission, said.

The auction, conducted by Graham Livestock Commission, sold 4,442 animals, including 1,215 packer cows, bred cows and pairs, and 3,227 yearlings and calves from 395 sellers and 84 buyers, the auction report said. The sale went from 10 a.m. Monday, June 11, and closed at 8:42 a.m. Tuesday - moving an average of about 200 cattle per hour, Mr. Hardin said.

“That’s the biggest one of my ownership [since 2013] but I’ve been here since 1990 and there has never been one that big,” he said.

Packer cows sold for $8-10 per pound lower than two weeks earlier, while packer bulls sold for $6-8 per pound lower, the report said. Prices for young replacement cows and pairs dropped by $50- 100 but the market on steers and heifers was steady, the report said.

The all-night sale and falling prices for cows headed for the slaughterhouse resulted from a perfect storm of drought and inflation, Mr. Hardin said.

“The problem is that we had no rain for hay and a lot of these people did not fertilize their fields of hay like normal because the cost of fertilizer is high, so they got half the yield,” he said. “We are getting cattle from a 100-mile radius of Graham. These cattle are not coming from Young County. They are coming from Snyder, the other side of Wichita Falls, Weatherford. They are coming from everywhere - not just Young County.”

Inflation that topped 9 percent last month nationally made buying feed a losing proposition, he said.

“Feed has doubled compared to last year,” Mr. Hardin said. “I know last year I was buying my hay for $55 and they’re getting $125 for it now.”

Tony Ramirez, a drone pilot for the Eliasville/South Bend Volunteer Fire Department, who also raises cattle, filmed a long line of cattle trucks waiting to enter the sales barn parking lot off State Highway 67 and posted it on Facebook.

“I live out there … and I drive past the sales barn five or six times a day,” Mr. Ramirez said. “I heard the farmers and ranchers in there talking about that this is the longest [the truck line] has been in a while. I decided to send up my drone …to capture images you don’t normally see.”

Mr. Ramirez is not selling cattle but said the drought has decimated his hay yield. “We used to get 70 to 100 bales,” he said. “This year it was 17.”