Sat at the sale in Staunton, Va today for about an hour to see the steers in the 3-6 wts sell. About 700 head total, I only watched some steers. Most of the singles, small groups of 2-4 were bringing in the 1.25 to 1.40. There were alot of bulls which surprised me, and they were .10 to .25 less. Several larger groups of well matched steers, 450 to 625 brought in the 1.50 to 1.62. Groups were 10 to 33 in each. It is a "weigh in sale" like Kenny mentioned. One of the reasons in the spring when we sell during the "rush" we try to be there by 5 a.m. . They start to unload @ 6 a.m. I have sat in line for as much as 4 hours, but during the spring rush usually about 2 hrs or so and it is usually a 2nd load as my son makes the first run early, then I usually go in with a 2nd trip about noon. We take all the steers we are going to sell in the first trip, then I will take heifers or some odd stuff and cull cows on the 2nd trip. If we have a large number of steers that somewhat match, we will find someone with a 2nd trailer to go in at the same time so they can be put into larger groups if they match.
Feeling is they might be a little better in late August. Have a guy who bought 15 heifers this spring, interested in some more heifers this fall and there are about 10-15 heifers and 10 + steers in this group. Total 29 calves. We'll see. Dealing with some pinkeye right now, there is alot of it going around. Couple are pretty bad, and it will cause damage, but a couple that were darted are clearing up nice. Worked them all through the chute this eve so will see how they clean up from it. Most were pretty much okay, about 8 total that have it or getting over it. Have a neighbor with it worse than us and he said it has been a bad deal this year.
