August 8',f?20i2
Spilyay Tymoó, Warm Springs, Oregon
Page 8
Local cattle prices impacted by drought in U.S.
Fara Ann Brummer
Warm Springs
Extension Office
(541) 553-3238
August 22 is
National Eat
A Peach Day
Peaches are in season,
w hich m eans that they can
usually be found on sale during
this tim e o f year. They are a
great choice for a snack or.
dessert. P eaches are low in fat,
cholesterol and sodium. They
are a g ood source o f fiber
(good for digestion) and a good
¡source o f vitam in A (good for,
eye health).
How to shop for
peaches:
• Smell them. They should
sm ell like a peach. I f yo u ca n ’t
smell anything they will be flavor
they are.
’ Below, is a national rep o rt
that forecasts cattle prices, using
the M idwest com belt as the stan
dard:
(From the Oklahoma Coop
erative Extension Service, (July
2012. Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma
State University Extension Live
stock Marketing Specialist.) a
The drought that is gripping
m uch o f the M idw est and South
is affecting cattle prices, even
here in the N orthw est.
In the w orld o f agriculture,
co m sets th e p ric e fo r m any o f
our other crops, including animal
production. A nd com is unfortu
nately drying up in our U . S com
belt, w ith m any losses.
W e are very fortunate here
in th e N o rth w est to b e having
such good w eather this year. O ur
reservoirs are full, our tem pera
tures are relatively cool, and ex
cept for som e major fires in East
ern Oregon, our range is in good
production. ,
However^ our cattle prices
will ultimately be influenced by the
national picture, b ecause co m
It is often th e Case in the
cattle b usiness th a t ‘hvhen p ro
duction is easy; m ark etin g is
h ard” and ‘/ w h e n pro d u ctio n is
sets th e stage for finishing our
cattle. Lightweight cattle m ay not
bring as m uch as they have been;
heavier cattle m ay maintain them
selves at flie auction.
Butcher cows and bulls are
Still bringing an excellent price -
it m ay be w orth culling those un
productive dams even at this time
o f year, and taking them in rather
than carrying them though another
w inter w ith hay prices as high as
hard; m arketing is easy.”
This m akes sense because
w hen production is easy and ev
eryone can do it, p ric es'o fte n
drop and marketing profitably is
a challenge, and w h en p ro d u c
tion is a challenge, th e re are of
ten good m arket opportunities.
C ertainly th e w id esp read
drought is m aking production a
challenge at this tim e fo r a great
m a n y producers. M an y cattle
pro d u cers are on th e defensive
trying-to. figure h o w to b est use,
rapidly dwindling feed resources;
What to sell an d w h en to sell it;
and ultimately how to survive the
drought w ith m inim al negative
impacts.
H o w ev er, cu rre n t c a ttle 1
prices reflect underlying m arket
signals as w ell as the direct im
p a c ts o f th e drought. M o st at
tention has been focused on how
m u c h ca ttle p ric e s h a v e d e
creased in th e p ast tw o m onths.
F o r feeder cattle, it is always
im portant to consider changes in
th e price relatio n sh ip s across
w eights as, w ell as th e overall
price leypls; Recently, prices for
lig h tw eig h t feed er cattle, i.e,,
calves and stobker^, hav e de
creased m o re th a n p ric es fp r
heavy feeder Cattle.
T h e d e g re a se in h e a v y
feeder prices reflects prim arily
the im pact o f high com prices on
feedlot d em an d fo r cattle co m
b in e d w ith th e general dem and
weakness reflected in boxed b eef
prices.
C a lf and stacker prices re
flect all o f those factors plus the
lack o f forage and1 limited oppor
tunities for stacker b ased cattle
production. A s a result, the cur
rent price pattern is one, in w hich
feed e r p rices drop rapidly up to
a b o u t 600 p o unds (fo r steers)
and then are relatively flat u p to
ab o u t 850 pounds. In fact, for
the past tw o w eeks in Oklahoma,
th e ch eap est steer u n d er 800
p o unds is a 575 p o u n d anim al
w ith h ig h er p rices fo r w eights
from 600 to 8 0 0 pounds.
T h is ty p e ’^ ’“ in v e rte d ”
feed e r p rice stru ctu re occurs,
rarely and reflects th e com bined
impacts ofh ig h Com prices and a
relative excess o f anim als at the
current time> due to the drought.
W hile pro d u cers are, fo rced to
produce and m arket defensively
thro u g h th e drought, it is im por-
tan t to keep in m ind that m arket
opportunities will exist during and
after the drought. The reality o f
hig h grain prices fo r at least the
next crop year will continue to be
reflected jn feeder cattle markets
as m arket signals to add w eight
to Cattle p rio r to feedlot p la ce
m ent
j B
J l
jA S k
||Sf.
Agriculture and
Natural
Resources
FaraBrummer
less.
•. F e e l th e m . P e a c h e s
should n o t be hard. They should
ibe slightly soft w hen you gently
squeeze them.
I • t,o o k a t th e m . P ic k
p each es th a t are n o t b ruised o r
moldy.
I f th e p e a c h e s ’ y o u b u y
a ren ’t qu ite ripe, yo u can ripen
th em b y putting them into a p a
p e r bag, loosely closing it an d 1:
leav in g them a t room tem pera
ture. ‘ T hey should ripen in 2 to 3
days. I f y o u have m ore ripe
peaches th an yo u can use, it is a
great idea to freeze them for later
use in baking and smoothies.
How to freeze
peaches:
• W ash and peel peaches,
To m ake th em easier , to peel,
blanch them. Put them into boil
in g w ater fo r 40 seconds (up to
‘o n e m in u te i f they are n o t quite
ripe). Carefully rem ove from the
w afer and p u t them into cold
water. The skins will slip off eas-
ily
• R em ove the pit and cut
¡into halves, quarters or slices.
. • F or a sugarless dry pack,
‘dissolve 16 teasp o o n ascorbic
acid (or 3 crushed 500-milligram
¡vitamin C tab lets) in 3 tab le
spoons o f water and sprinkle over
4 cups o f fruit. G ently to ss the
fruit to coat it evenly. This helps
keep the fruit from turning brown.
• P lace fruit into a plastic
freezer bag and rem ove as m uch
air as possible.
• F reeze im m ediately and
store at 0 degrees F ahrenheit or
below. For best quality use within
12 months.
For m ore methods o f freez
ing fruit contact the Extension of
fice
Family Community Health
Danita Macy
Arlene Boileau
Sara Smith
Rosanna Sanders
Warm Springs youth enter exhibits into the JC Fair
I f y o u happened' to- m ake .if to the,
Jefferson C ounty F air this year, you m ay
h av e seen Sèyeràl exhibit-entries from
Warm Springs Youth. Twenty-seven youth
w ho attended several O$CFExtension D ay
C am p sh a d the opportunity to create, en
te r and display th eir talents. T he catego
ries in w hich they entered included straw
art painting, sand painting, wing dresses,
ribbon Shirts, necklaces, bracelets, deco
rated cookies, d ried c o m & carrots, and
fruit leather.
M any o f the you th w ere aw arded,
n j 2nd, 3rd, o r F irst P rem ium ribbons in
each o f these categories. W hat did else did
th ey get? Cash! ,Yes, th e 1st place ribbon
p a id o ut $3.00, the 2ndplace ribbonW as
$2.00, and 3rd|»lace w as $ 1 .0 0 $ ftm a y
not sound lik e a lo t o f m oney b u t youth
have the choice to enter into m ore than one
category. F or exam ple, i f a youth entered
into 5 categories and p laced l in each,
he/sh e w ould receive a $15.00 check in
the mail. This sounds pretty sw eet to me.
W e are h oping n ex t yea r w é w ill •
double th e entrants into th é Jefferson
(County Fair. I f yo u r you th w o u ld like tp\
en ter in the 2013 Jefferson C ounty Fair,
please call M orning Rae Ferris at O SU Ex
tension W arm Springs for m ore inform a
tion and details.
4-H Program
Morning Rae Ferris