Climbing Cattle Price Equals Big Business For Tulsa Stockyards

It was a busy day at the Tulsa Stockyards, where the high price of cattle is driving both supply and demand.

Ranchers are selling off older cattle and buying fresh stock so they'll have more cattle next year.

High cattle prices are bringing a lot of livestock into the stockyard and cattlemen are making money like never before.

In a single day's sale last week, the Tulsa Stockyards sold 4,500 head of cattle, at record prices.

The price of cattle at auction has doubled in the last two years. That's bringing in ranchers who can't resist selling at the price.

“It's crazy and I love it,” said Inola rancher, Art Leake.

Leake just sold some older cows and now he's looking to buy more.

"And people, whenever the drought hit, they cut back and now they're culling their herds because the culled cows are so high and they're going to be buying young stock to replace them,” he said.

Calves and heifers sell at the highest prices; sometimes $2.50 a pound, meaning a weaned calf can sell for $1,500.

Auctioneer Blaine Lotz said cattle are selling like this all over the country.

"And those top market prices are bringing all these cattle into market, there's just so many people saying ‘wow I can't believe they're bringing that much money,'” Lotz said.

It's a record business for the Tulsa Stockyards, which is finding their Monday morning sale sometimes stretching into Tuesday.

The volume increases with the price.

Joe Don Eaves, with the Tulsa Stockyards said, "I'm not so sure that cattle is high. I think they're finally just up to where everything else is."

At the stockyard bidding is subtle, and with the flick of a finger, thousands of dollars can change hands.

"It's going to take a long time to get the cattle numbers back to where they were when cattle were cheaper, and I'm not sure they'll ever get back to that,” said Eaves.

Cattlemen expect the supply and demand to eventually balance out, but they don't know when because no one ever expected cattle prices to be this high.