Set up your account. Purchase a digital-only subscription now for unlimited online access to local news and information.

June 21, Craig Jensen and his son Cole sort cattle as the ranch rounds up, weighs and ships steer calves near Lavina. Ken and Daphne Kuhlmann ready horses before sunrise as Craig Jensen, his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the family ranch near Lavina.

Kendy Jensen, left, and Curt McCann were among hired help, family and friends as Jensen ranch members round up, weigh and ship steer calves near Lavina. Craig Jensen, his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the ranch near Lavina.

Craig Jensen, left, and Ken Kuhlmann prepare to sort cattle as Jensen ships steer calves the ranch near Lavina. A calf sticks its nose from the truck as Lavina rancher Craig Jensen shipped steer calves from his ranch in November. Cattle are sorted at a ranch near Lavina. The Z6 brand is painted on a barn as Craig Jensen, his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the ranch near Lavina.

From right, rancher Craig Jensen, auction sales representative George Griemsman and buyer Gerald Lyle watch the scale as they weigh small groups of cattle.

Jensen, his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the ranch near Lavina.

Craig Jensen loads cattle into a truck as his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the ranch near Lavina. Craig Jensen and his son Cole count cattle as his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the ranch near Lavina.

Superior Livestock Auction representative George Griemsman, left, and cattle buyer Gerald Lyle watch as Craig Jensen, his hired help, family and friends round up, weigh and ship steer calves from the ranch near Lavina. The payment the couple receives will be the only paycheck of It will make or break the year for the something couple and their four children.

Montana Market Reports

Outside, the nighttime darkness is turning to twilight. The sun is coming and so is the cattle buyer, driving through the darkness all the way from Missouri. The rancher smiles and shakes off his concern as his hired hand, Ken Kuhlmann, steps outside to fetch a trailer. After years of break-even and go-broke marketing cycles, ranchers like the Jensens are experiencing the best cattle prices of their lives.

Buyers are paying double and in some cases nearly triple what they were paying just five years ago. The market is really a story of the last men standing reaping the rewards of survival. The population for all cattle and calves in the United States has fallen 2. The decline includes Montana where the inventory of 2. There are fewer cattle in the United States than at any time since The short supply comes just as Americans and foreign buyers are regaining their appetite for beef after years of recession belt tightening.

They fed hay until there was none to feed and then competed with ranchers from as far away as Oklahoma for what little hay Montana was still producing in the drought-spared north. By spring , the hay from two years earlier was gone and Montana ranchers began selling off cattle they had no grass or hay to feed.

The Jensens were part of that early spring selloff, but the rain picked up in mid-May, and the couple decided to gamble on a green year and stopped selling. Their bet paid off and turned out to be a wet year all the way through October. We rushed home to save the calves. That night the Jensens and Kuhlmann worked through the dark in a field flooded with frigid moving water and massive sheets of ice. The cows and calves wound up in the safest place the couple could think of, a patch of grass outside their back porch.

A calf with its ear tips frozen off sells at a discount. A cold winter drives up hay costs as cattle eat more food to stay warm. The cost of hauling water in a drought adds up. The crew spent the morning in upland pastures untying a swimming black knot of calves and momma cows. The cacophony of cows bellowing for their children puts a lasting ring in everyone's ears. It is the sound of fall in rural Montana. These are good looking calves.

Welcome to BLS - CURRENT MARKET REPORT

His great-grandfather, James Christian Jensen, bought the property during the Great Depression about a decade after stepping away from a Milwaukee Railroad crew to start a butcher shop in Lavina. On sale day, Jensen and Lyle meet at the ranch stock scale to weigh calves 10 at a time. The rancher balances the scale by gently rolling his finger against the small beam weight, edging it to the light end as Lyle sights in the floating beam.

Together the steers weigh 6, pounds, 18 pounds per animal more than the pound steers Lyle has agreed to buy. The Jensens sold their animals in August via video auction by Superior Livestock, a Fort Worth, Texas, company.

Lyle was looking for calves available in November at a weight of pounds. The weight is important because it determines how long it will take to a feedlot to fatten the animals before selling them for slaughter. The price paid by the buyer for every pound over the agreed to pounds would be discounted 10 cents.

The Jensens would be leaving profit on the table. The weighed calves are then assembled in an alley so Lyle can select the ones that best fit his order. By the time the calves are sorted, the animals to ship are uniform in size, just as Lyle wants. Their average weight is down to pounds. He tells the driver to step on it.

The other 20 are gravy. Auction representative George Griemsman congratulates Kendy on a good sale. The Jensens will decide in the next few weeks whether to sell or holdback their young female calves. In each case, America was short on cattle.

Even the sales prices are similar. However the circumstances behind each previous market boom are different, the economist says. The boom came in the first year of the Korean War. People across the world feared the conflict would spark World War III. Many countries had suffered starvation in World War II and responded to the Korean War by hoarding food.

IIS Detailed Error - - Forbidden

By , things had calmed down and cattle prices again fell. In , cattle prices rose because the animal feed was scarce. The Russian grain crisis of the previous year had prompted a cattle sell off, which drove down prices briefly, but left herd numbers short the following year. But conditions improved when crops rebounded.

The boom was tied to oil. The cost of fuel skyrocketed and ranchers responded by cutting back on cattle production.

Fuel is one of the biggest expenses ranchers have. Two years later, production costs improved and the prices tapered off. The current cattle boom is different, Brester says, more weather related than the others, which has the economist thinking it may take longer to subside. It takes two years to retain a heifer, breed the animal, raise her calf and bring the offspring to market.

Betting on the weather is proving difficult. Whenever Tom Lutey posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. We hope you have enjoyed your complimentary access for the month. Now it's time to activate or sign up for unlimited access! Thank you for signing up! We have not been able to find your subscription. Don't have a subscription? Click on the button below to set up your account or log in if you already have one.

Want to become a subscriber? Edit Article Add New Article. Subscribe Customer Service Sections. Don't have an account? Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear skies.

Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Close 1 of Ken Kuhlmann rounds up cattle on Craig Jensen's family ranch near Lavina.

With strong cattle prices, Montana ranchers ride state's best economic trend By TOM LUTEY tlutey billingsgazette. View photos of the Jensen ranch cattle roundup and shipping to market.

How long will it last? Related to this topic. After the storm Wild Montana: Tattoos of mountains and lakes Forever Montana: Tattoos in the shape of the Treasure State. Tags Craig Jensen Kendy Jensen Cattle Montana Economy Beef Lavina Ranching Agriculture. Tom Lutey Politics and agriculture reporter for The Billings Gazette. Follow Tom Lutey Close Get email notifications on Tom Lutey daily!

Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Follow Tom Lutey Close Followed notifications. Please log in to use this feature Log In. More Latest Local Offers. Finish those summer projects with Payne Construction! Click here for DISCOUNTS or call us: Click here or call us: Iron Ridge Quarry has all sizes of rocks - everything you need to finish your landscape projects.

Call Iron Ridge Quarry today to learn more - Sell It MT Today's Deal Thrifty Nickel Magic City Magazine Welcome Home Montana Land Magazine Newspaper special sections Online Features. Subscribe Advertise RSS e-Edition Contact Us. Powered by BLOX Content Management System from TownNews.