The folks at Kist Livestock in Mandan expect to be working today until the cows come home.

Diane Givan at Kist's said normally a sale this time of the year would move between 3,000 and 5,000 head of cattle.

Today, though, she said they are expecting about 6,000 head to move - maybe more.

There are a number of factors that are in play. First, Givan said they always take a break around the holidays, and Kist Livestock's last sale was Dec. 20.

Second, third, and on, and on - it's the weather and the markets.

Doug Bichler, Emmons County Extension agent, said the cattle market is up in recent weeks, and that has some producers moving cows while the moving is good.

Coming into calving season in a couple months, Bichler said the cold weather and the snow means producers have higher input costs.

He said pushing snow to get to the cattle, breaking through frozen troughs and frigid temperatures all mean a slimmer profit margin.

"We have more and more input costs every day," Bichler said, "and that means the bottom line increases every day."

Bichler said speaking from personal experience, it's getting old breaking through the ice every morning to water the herd.

Plus, when the temperatures are like they were a few weeks ago, cattle put on weight at a slower rate, again affecting the bottom line.

Bichler said one reason for the cattle market rebounding in recent weeks is commodities are down somewhat. It's sort of a make hay when the sun shines type of thinking. "They don't know what the market is going to do," he said, so many are opting to sell now.

In addition to Givan's estimate that Kist expects 6,000 head or more today, at Farmers Livestock Exchange in Bismarck, about 1,000 head moved Tuesday.

Givan was wasn't certain what the record number of cattle that have gone through the ring sale at Kist is, but in the seven and half years she's worked there, she's heard of one sale where more than 6,000 head went through the gate.

In Dickinson, James Erickson, one of the owners of Stockman's Livestock Auction, said cattle numbers are about normal for this time of the year. He said in January he expects to run between 3,000 and 4,000 cattle through per week before seeing a sharp drop-off.

While the southwest part of North Dakota has less snow than other parts of the state, it also have less feed to see the cattle through the winter, Erickson said.

"We were above average in October and November because there's no feed," he said.

Producers who did find hay, mainly from South Dakota, were paying $110 per ton delivered.

(Reach reporter Brian Gehring at 250-8254 or brian.gehring.) @bismarcktribune.com