coming up I was doing the math earlier
You could almost carry a dairy cow a
year and make her work and make her work
without milk without milking her Yeah I
think the market's getting shorter and
shorter about every month it feels like
I mean it got bad enough in certain
areas that you were essentially taking
some of them solid and shortening
spreader cows that are the most
productive years of their life and they
were hanging That's right around the
corner on the live a ranch and livestock
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here's your hosts Tidy Cordova and Casey
Mabry Welcome to uh We Live It Podcast
Uh myself Tidy Cordova and Casey Mabry
here Um once again we'd like to thank
y'all for joining us on social media and
watching these things Um we can't thank
y'all enough for trusting us I guess And
I don't know why they'd want to watch me
and you talk about stuff but thank y'all
very much Um we have uh Levi Grove here
Levi where you you live in Sterling
where do you live now i lived in
Southeast Still southeast of Sterling
here He trades a lot of cows Um uh buys
a bunch of her dispersals and and trades
a lot of stuff that that way if if I
understood you right earlier So um but
Levi is from Kansas originally Is that
correct so kind of just give us a little
background of I mean you're raising your
background of how you was in the
industry and kind of just let's talk
about um I grew up in the flannels of
Kansas I grew up in a little town called
Cassidy which nobody unless you've been
through the flannels of c Kansas you
don't really know where Cassidy is But I
grew up in Cassidy till I was about nine
and then my parents moved to El Dredo
Um my parents um my stepdad was a school
teacher and then in I think 89 or 90 he
decided he was going to run some cattle
and started a custom grazing business
And so that was kind of our background
on that side with my mom and my stepdad
Then my dad's always been a cow guy So
I've kind of got the best of both worlds
on when it comes to my parents We have a
unique scenario Kind of grew up sail
barn background a little bit Uh y'all
had this El Dorado Sailorn for a little
longer My stepdad and a partner had the
sail barn at Elorado from I think 98
till 200
uh would have been 21 I think No it was
before that one No it might have No it
was it
was 15 years 15 That's when it was I
lose track of time but but yeah so I was
right out of high school when they
purchased that He and Steve Hamlin owned
that and I got a pretty good exposure to
that and you know back in one of those
things Oh yeah You you can learn a lot
in a sort alley That's where that's
where I think the greatest education
I've ever got came from was probably in
a sort alley or picking up your
somewhere So yeah
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retailer preferred So kind of tell us a
little bit about the cow trade What I
mean how how what have you seen here in
the last year last 6 eight months i mean
what what are you thinking on this cow
deal what's it looking like on the on
the bread cow deal especially on the
better end of the cows we're always a
little behind what the feeder markets
will do you know and and the fat cattle
market will do But I think that you know
we're we've had this big word of
expansion here recently and I think
there's a lot of people realizing that's
probably not coming as fast as they
wanted to And so I think that you know
we're we're kind of starting to see in
the breaded cow and the parent pair side
of it that we're kind of starting we've
kindly finally starting to catch up with
what the value of those things truly is
you know yeah they've been pretty cheap
relative to everything else It's like I
mean you have feeder cattle that was
basically the same value as a as a bread
cow right and usually when we see a big
market run historically it's always that
way The last thing to come to the table
is usually the breadc market and the
bull market and they've really taken a
turn here in the last 6 months Are you
starting to when you say that so this is
one thing that I've sit here and just
racked in my mind because I was looking
at so uh I was looking at the numbers
and I was looking at charts on uh
separating beef cow slaughter and dairy
cow slaughter out Okay And so those
markets are extremely strong the
slaughter cow markets Um so there should
be tremendous amount of incentive But
then the other thing is now we got the
cow man that's a they've been able to
get two calf crops and and it's above
above what a break even would be and now
he's got good margin out there Right So
now I mean from a from a business
decision standpoint I'm not going to say
they're going to start to retaining but
they've obviously started selling less
cows Okay So we're selling we're killing
less cows right um and then so to you
you're starting to see a price
escalation That means you got somebody
either not wanting to sell cows or you
got somebody wanting to step in and buy
Yeah I think I think currently the the
market's pretty short I I think for a
high quality commercial cow I think the
market's getting shorter and shorter
about every month It feels like you know
usually this time of year we see several
of these head repair sales that are
they're they're just kind of flooding
the market and there's an opportunity
usually to get in and buy some FE
repairs worth the money and you know
this deal they're bringing what they
should and there's cuz there's not very
many of them But you know you think it's
cuz the guys are lack like not wanting
to let loose of them i think so I I
think the retainment deal I think on the
heers has changed at all I I think that
for so many years that these guys that
would
normally retain heers the value of these
heers has gotten to the point where
they're cashing a pretty good chip And I
think that you know with the input cost
these things and the cost of production
being so high I think that they've taken
a lot of advantage of it the last two
years where you know like these last two
rounds of calf like you said they've
made them some money Oh yeah And you
know as a cow calf producer I think the
that temptation is pretty hard to retain
Yeah There's two ways to expand And
really the first one I mean just think
through this right we call in the beef
herd at about a 10% rate So you could
sell less cows you can callull less cows
you can be more accepting of a cow
that's got a problem in your herd unless
she's dying Uh so you're not you're
going to you're going to keep them cows
another couple years uh the dairy cow
we're seeing the same thing in the dairy
cow population where um they've slowed
their for so forever uh the last four or
five years as they've started to get
four five six 7 $800 $900 for a day old
calf Oh yeah they've slowed down uh I
mean I was I was doing the math earlier
You could almost carry a dairy cow a
year and make her work and make her work
without milk without milking her Yeah
Yeah You could you could have it's crazy
to think through the economics of it And
so I mean that's where I'm like really
trying to balance out and go are we
going to grow could you grow the cow
herd
theoretically by not pulling as fast I
think you could but I think you see what
I'm saying we've we've had such a unique
scenario where a lot of the Midwest is
coming out of a drought the last 3 years
and we're still in it here I mean we're
not anywhere out of the woods We got a
little moisture this week and it wasn't
much but like my dad lives up north of
northeast Scots northwest Scots Bluff
They haven't had any rain since May you
know up there for a while They haven't
had any rain since about 1926
That's
that's sou county can be pretty
unforgiving when you get off the Nero
But
um you know I mean we've had kind of a
perfect storm these markets running into
the back end of a year where we're
coming out of a massive kill because of
these droughts Yeah And so it's like
nobody really you want to retain them
but you're like "Oh they're worth 1,800
bucks to haul them to town Why wouldn't
I haul them to town?" It's pretty hard
to resist T and I were talking about
that was when we were driving in from
the airport I was asking Tom like "Are
you seeing guys buy these heers to go in
there and start to breed them are you
seeing any of that kind of stuff?" Yeah
And we're seeing an end of it And I I
noticed it because I I appreciate a
really good heer to breed But we'll see
an end of it here Especially we have a
little market drop in this heer deal
People will start looking at raw numbers
and they'll be like
"She's got two holes We'll breed her."
Yeah And and I that doesn't help our
industry at all because we lose so much
productivity on the back side of it when
they go come into production Yeah you
know so it Well when you're liquidating
the herd you kill the worst ones and
then when you're when you're expanding
you keep the worst ones you know Yeah So
yeah And you know it was like the last
few years when the liquidations happened
because of the drought I mean it got bad
enough in certain areas that you were
essentially taking some of them solid
and short and spreader cows that are the
most productive years of their life and
they were hanging them Yeah I mean just
because they didn't have an option and
the market was a hamburger and the
market was so flooded at the point that
you know there was a lot of them things
that normally they might have prick
checked them and saw that they were you
know first trimester first couple months
and rolled her on but there wasn't any
value in it because they went ahead and
hung them because it was so high in
hamburger so they never went back into
the cycle It's interesting how it's all
kind of played out Yeah there's
definitely like just a we can all
spitball it and guess and that's what
everybody is and and I've told somebody
if they if somebody shows up and they've
got the magic eightball you need to haul
get away from them because there nobody
knows what's going to happen on this
deal but I mean it's been really really
good I mean there's been a lot of money
made in this business And I was asking
my brother the other day if he's seen it
at the barn where they where they
started keeping heers yet He said no He
in our country he said no cuz this this
his heer percentage is still higher than
it than it normally is because they're
bringing so much I mean they're
stripping them off and they're getting
rid of them I mean you know if they're
doing any they'll keep four or five just
to replace the four or five coal cows
they sent to town but they're they're
not growing they're just replacing What
are you seeing in the rebreed market so
like these cows I mean like so last fall
whenever you had all the opens that were
coming to town um where'd they go they
go to a feed yard and the rebreed market
was pretty insane last fall You know I
mean you're seeing a market to where in
the years past those young you know
three-year-olds that were thin that
missed for natural causes Like nothing
that's missed because I mean missed
because they come out of a drought they
didn't get stuck in the cycle they
needed to get stuck in You know in years
past we've been able to put them cows
together for 900 to 1,250 bucks Last
year they cost anywhere from 1,800 to
two grand And it's just and the value is
still there because I mean the fall
cabin cow market's really really good
right now Yeah So where okay let's think
about that for a minute Three or four
years ago drought the rebreed cow goes
to slaughter It goes to a feed yard Okay
She gets pit on feed she gets fed Where
is she going today
i think there's guys that are rolling
the dice and taking her back to the
country and trying to Yeah Okay So
there's a little bit of another part
right there that you got to think
through Right So she would have got cold
That's the Heerret market Things like
that you know those heers that get bred
and even like maybe even uh even heers
that would have got bred that didn't
that would have come back open they
might take another shot at her because
if you get her bred she's worth a lot of
money now Yeah And like on our end of it
you know we we take the best market
value I think in that and we do some of
that you know I mean we do a lot quite a
bit of it every year The four fives and
sixy old cows you know cuz usually them
cows aren't aged when they come in to
weigh them up you know So it's basically
whoever the buyer is and they're getting
a knife or oh she's a hepheret type you
know she brings x amount of dollars more
But a four-year-old that's green and
just needs some energy to breed back up
That's a market that a lot of times
those people will miss But I mean you
see the youth in her And so now there's
a lot of people that like us we try to
get into that four and five sixy old
market to be able to cheapen those heets
up because it's a heer market gets
pretty crazy a difference Well she can
go to a feed yard or she can go to a cow
man Oh yeah Or go to a or or she can go
to a cow plant them little green
two-year-olds that have raised wet bag
2-year-olds that have raised a calf and
then get bred back because they had a
pretty tough go
Those are the kinds you like to pick off
They're they're a dream to get on the
right nutrition program and to get
fattened up and get things on you know
just put some energy in them and it's
amazing how well they cycle within a two
week span I mean it's my dad he used to
buy them things just like groves of them
you know
And that's one reason I love it up here
is because the cattle are so good The
cow herd's so good that you can set have
somebody set in a barn or you can be in
a barn and there's a lot of opportunity
There's a lot of opportunity to be able
to do that because normally you set in a
barn it's kind of everybody's junk you
know Yeah You see that in Texas Oklahoma
Kansas but you get up here there's a lot
of there's no junk in Texas Yeah
But I'm saying it's No this is a great
area This is this is from here north is
the heart of our most productive cow And
so if there's one that missed for
natural reasons she should go back in
the cycle We need her to go back in the
cycle because this ain't deal ain't
going to fix itself anytime soon No
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Agar Transportation moving your cattle
with care since 1987 We was talking
earlier before we come on here You
talking about the sense of community up
here and that and how good the people
are Kind of kind of let's touch on that
how how this industry and this business
is a relationship business It's a it's
it's people doing business with great
people Oh yeah You you kind of you you
come from the Flint Hills where it's big
country and and a lot of that stuff's
owned by a different kind of people and
it's just big and massive and then you
get up here and the country is still big
and masses but every rancher wants to go
help his neighbor Every rancher wants to
everybody wants everybody to be
successful 100% It's um you know the
Flint Hills and I love the Flint Hills
and it's a wonderful place to run cattle
and it's really good till about the 10th
of August like it's and then you got to
start supplementing them because that
old grass goes dormant It's pretty tough
But you know down there a lot of that
country most of that country is lease
country you know that people are running
year on And that's a pretty cutthroat
industry you know that custom grazing
deal And so there'll be some bitterness
and animosity over the years on
different pe neighbors trying to do
business you know trying to lease a
piece of ground And you get up here and
it's it it's that to an extent but
everybody up here is just trying to
survive and manage what they have A and
neighbors help neighbors And it's a very
open you know it's like this deal It's
wonderful Everybody gets together
because we're all like-minded people
have the same values and we have a good
time Raising money for a good cause
Raising money for a great cause And it
never hurts when you've won it the last
two years in a row to kind of want to
keep being involved in it I mean just a
little gloating here while we're at it
So I mean
Oh yeah They do Oh yeah Yeah My daughter
wears one and my wife wears the other
one So we're going for a three Pete here
Uh yeah Yeah we're going to try it It's
going to be tough They got a couple
heers that are gaining over five a day
now So Oh really yeah They got one gain
of 514 one gain of 53 and one gain in 56
All right So let's talk about that for a
minute You Hey you've obviously won this
thing You're a competitor I love it Yeah
And so explain to everybody out there
what this Logan County Cattle Women's
Kolkata is So basically it's a halfway
point They catch weight on the heers
They kick the heers in Start at the
beginning So in November you donate your
heer and you just donate her You have
her brand inspected to them to the Logan
County Cattle Women and she is theirs So
whatever happens happens It's there's no
guarantee on rate of return And I've got
some friends that throughout the
industry whether we got a guy in
California we got people in Nebraska
that we all like the little competition
I mean most people in the cattle
industry do like a little competition
It's it's a blast So you donate that
heer and then they feed them x amount of
days They wait 15 days before the weight
They get everything just kind of filled
up on grass Nothing on rations So they
basically if you've got one starved down
trying to get the shrink right cuz that
was my big deal I'm like when you tell
her about your secret when there is no
secret
There is no secret So at 15 days they're
all weighed in and then at the halfway
point they check them for average daily
gain And so everybody basically will bid
on a heer and they'll hedge the bet
against what their average daily gate is
and what she looks like at the halfway
point and what versus what she might be
fat And so basically you buy a heer and
you're in for three categories You're in
for the grand champion category which
pays two holes or the rate of gain
category which pays 10 holes or the
carcass contest which pays 10
holes So it's kind of a unique scenario
So what would be the total Kolkata value
tonight i have no idea I mean last year
there was some heers There was a heer I
think bring six and there was a lot of
them bring four So we got you know just
called a3 or $4,000 average on how many
heers
uh 51 So there's 150 grand in the pot
Yeah I think you know roughly Yeah And
it might get I mean this is the third
year they've done it and so it's the
first year I think there was 56 heers
Last year I think there was 54 And I'm
don't quote that Yeah but but the
community at the Kolkata has gotten a
lot more last year was a lot more
involved and and they loved it I mean
there was doctor's offices buying heers
I don't I think it's cool to get the
community involved Oh they come in and
they come out and eat a steak and have a
glass of whiskey and have about five
more glasses of whiskey and next thing
you know they own Hefer We have a good
auction Yeah that's the key Take this
sucker back to Texas and do one down
there too Oh it's a So it's all designed
after Yuma County which is right south
And you know Yuma's got a lot of big
feed yards a lot of guys that love to
feed cattle They got a lot of smaller
independent feeders but they all love to
feed cattle And where do they feed these
things mac and Mac Oh man We could have
went and seen them today You should have
went and looked at them Well we drove on
through there but he didn't tell us they
were there Pin 603 I went I had looked
Oh you so I had I had So you done went
and seen everything so you kind of Well
they posted on their Facebook page man
Oh I guess I got to get on social media
more I hadn't seen him until last night
It was mist and I was in town and I was
like "What pin are they in?" So you went
out there when they were wet and look
soggy and that one that had his head
poked I went out there after I went I
was about dark and the evening feed was
in there The one that was still up there
eating you're going to buy that one I
don't know We'll see what happens So
what I'm going to do is I'm going to
watch him and say "Okay we might he
might snake you on this auction deal He
bids and he b he stops." Yeah So I'm I'm
not trying to throw anybody under the
bus but the first year
the and and we've raised the two heers
that have won which is pretty unique
Pretty neat for me I mean it's like for
me and my dad No no not even same cow
herd Like like I think Drummonds end up
buying that She was in a string of cows
that went to Drummonds that first year
and I don't remember where the string of
cows went that this one came out of but
it so it's been neat for me But the
first year we had a heer that was just
running away with it Like and it was
pretty obvious when you looked at him
that she had it all Like and so I didn't
do the bidding the first year Ryan
Timberman did And I'm throwing him under
the bus And he didn't buy her but the
group that came in second bought her and
she made them a pile of money And I will
never let Ryan Timberman ever live that
down I mean so yeah it's it's been fun
It's pretty neat Well the room's filling
up Looks like it's going to be quite a
few I think they said there's going to
be 350 400 people here tonight So it
ought to be a Where's the Where's the
What's the fundraiser for logan County
Capital So he goes and then what do they
do with the money so throw big parties
like this They do this but one of the
coolest thing they do is they go into
the lot they go to our capital and
they'll kind of just have conversations
with legislators So they're using the
money to avoid cattle people Yeah And
then they go they have a really cool
deal where they're doing this you know
in the classroom deal where they go and
talk about the entire beef industry all
of it to these kids in these inner city
schools that have no idea where any of
it comes from And I mean and they spend
a lot of time doing it a lot of money
And I think it's great I I wish I could
No I think in all these states as y'all
have grown your population and
especially around Denver and all that
stuff it's important to remember that
Colorado that is a a based state and
it's important and that's so it's good
they're bringing that money back in
there So and here you've you've got to
stay proactive because if you didn't
nobody in the front wage would ever know
we existed Right Right So well thanks
for being on Thanks for sharing your
story man We appreciate you Yeah Um
thanks everybody for joining us and
watching Hit uh don't forget to hit
subscribe and like
Um thank you Casey thank you Levi
Appreciate you guys Um once again God
bless and we live it
in your bones with that