# Market Prices



## Kaylam (Jan 31, 2017)

Hi, I have a question about meat market prices. How do you watch that market? Is there a website?

I was planning to take a couple of wethers to the sale barn but I'm wondering what is the best time for taking them? How do they price them? Not knowing anything about sale barns, we took some last winter and they were in the category 2 or ?? I'm sorry I have forgotten the wording. But it was the lesser price per pound.

Thank you


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

See if the sale by you has a website and on it there should be a market report. Different places kinda word it differently but let's use this one as a example  








So first #1 means fat and sassy, basically really nice kids. So if we look on this #1 kids that weigh 20-40 pounds bring between $2.50 to $2.90 per pound. So let's say you have a 40# kid that is a #1 the amount will be $100-$116. Now I find this market report kinda funny because they sell them by the head not by the pound. It's going to depend on the place and how they sell the animal. If it looks like this though or if it says $250 wt. then they mean the same thing, $2.50. I don't know why they have to put it that way, that's how they sell cattle and do their report. If it says head, or hd. That is the grand total per head. This would be much easier if you can find me what yours says and I can break it down for you  
#2 kids means that they are not totally filled out. Imagine dairy compared to Boers.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Very well said Jessica


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## RoseCrayon (Jul 23, 2018)

I don’t know but here in Kansas the market has been steady since we’ve started raising goats for five years. Supply never keeps up with demand. Around the first of the month is better because people have a bit more money if they want to bid. Generally though a buyer from California buys all the goats he can get for a good price. Even our skinny goats do well. They do, actually sell butcher goats per pound. Then they calculate the total per head. It’s sorta both. Cattle sell per pound then they print it centiweight. Anyway goat markets are strong.


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Interesting, I've never seen these categories before.

Which state are you in?

I do what Jessica said and just watch the website of the sales barn I take them too, but also keep an eye on some others in the area.

This is where I've bee taking mine.

https://www.centrallivestock.com/lo.../west-fargo-representative-sales-june-27-2018

They are sold by the pound there, or the hundred weight; so that $250 they have listed for the 8ea 72# is actually $2.50 a pound.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Lstein said:


> Interesting, I've never seen these categories before.
> 
> Which state are you in?
> 
> ...


If your asking me I'm in California. None of the sale yards here take goats overly serious so all the market reports are kinda crap but this is the better one. This is another report, it's a total joke








It every place will be different. Here prices are bad. I have a friend in Nebraska that collects a bunch of different market reports in the state and lists them all and they are a tad better then here right now. But for here usually around November prices go up. After the first of the year prices are the highest, April they drop a little and after may first it's just depressing. But the reason behind that is grass dries up and hay prices go up


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

This is what I watch: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/goat-reports

Prices are in the toilet for goats right now. Ebb and flow though, around September/Oct they'll start to go back up steadily until Easter, then tank again not long after.

Right now, a 30 lb "fancy" feeder kid might bring $40-50 at the auction, dairy wethers were in the $30 range, a big 2-3 year old Boer buck in good weight went for $160, I picked up a Lamancha doe in milk for $140 (she's lean, bid up one of the kill buyers until he quit).
But, that's in OK, we have zero grass because it's been a very dry spring and summer with high heat. The only USDA reporting auction in the state burned down back in May, so I go by the TX report. Now is not the time to sell here unless you're desperate to downsize, which is becoming a reality for many because we aren't going to have pasture going into winter.


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## RoseCrayon (Jul 23, 2018)

Sorry Texas. Hope you get rain


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## Kaylam (Jan 31, 2017)

This is all that I can find so far. I have 5 or 6 reports that I can read for Missouri but the sale barn that I'll be using doesn't appear to have a website or monthly report; they use FB. I've messaged them but they haven't replied yet.


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## Kaylam (Jan 31, 2017)

How does the goat get placed? Do I chose or does the buyer chose? I’m not sure how this works.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Goats get placed mainly here by breed and condition. A fat healthy Boer looking buckling would be selection 1. A scrawny one would hit 3rd select. A Spanish buckling in good weight may end up in the 2nd select just because it doesn't look like a Boer - at least here anyway. Anything "mutt" looking will end up selection 2 if they are good weight, selection 3 if they are poor looking. Dairy bucklings tend to go 3rd select regardless of weight.
As a seller, I can tell them to put a doe in a slaughter lot instead of replacement (i.e. something wrong with her that I know about) so she doesn't go as a replacement. At least at ours they mouth the adult goats and sort them that way, old goats go in the slaughter, young healthy looking ones go in replacements.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

If this is fairly close to you it will be about the same there too. Maybe a little higher or lower but this will give you a general idea  
So this is a good report. The smaller kids sell by the head, same as bucks. The others would be per pound. So 220.00 is actually $2.20 per pound. 
Selection is looking like the grade of the animals. So 1 being that those kids have a good amount of meat on their bones, basically, and 2 meaning a little more meat wouldn’t hurt and 3 being thin.
So what you want to do to see about what your kids would sell for, weigh them and find their weight and grade and X it by whatever price they give there. 
As mentioned above the sale after the first of he month is going to be the best for this time of year. What I mean by that is, if prices are low right now you are still not going to get as much as when prices are the highest another time of the year but you should get a few more dollars that week compared to other weeks. Most people get paid either the first and or 15th of the month, if someone just got paid and wants to have a BBQ or even buy for a pet whatever they have the money to do it. Yes most buyers are probably ones that want a lot of butcher kids but still any added bid is going to help.


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## Kaylam (Jan 31, 2017)

Thanks for the help!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Very good advice by all.


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