A question of ethics

[Nesikep]

I usually don't represent what my calves are when they go to the sale barn, but I can say none of them have any drugs that haven't passed the withholding time, etc.

When I go to the sale barn, I wouldn't bid on an animal that just walks into the ring, I'd have had to see that animal in the pens and given them a good once-over first. It's rare I see an animal at our yards that I say "Yep, that one could come home with me"... One was a BIG old simmi/fleckvieh looking cow, don't know if she was bred, but she'd have made a heck of a cow, I also saw some Gelbvieh and Limousin heifers and heifer calves that looked like dandies. I had an option to buy a pretty nice older SH bull, but I had already bought my Limo bull a couple weeks earlier.. I'd have made money on him, he was a big boy and I'd have made $.50 /lb on him over the next year.. He was long and meaty, and I knew where he came from too.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

If you mean feeders, i guess your talking about saying they are weaned, had shots, heifers are open if that's not all true. I don't think it's right and i've never done it. But at the same time I buy quite a few calves and if I get some that are not what they are supposed to be it doesn't bother me. Unfortunately there is no perfect system and things aren't always what they should be. If a person can't handle that they shouldn't be buying cattle.

 

[suzorse]

I buy and sell at the barn , and if I can not spot a problem , and buy it then it is my fault not the sellers ,most of the time a problem is announced , I also make no warranty's on animals I sell , if it is a pregnant animal she gets preg checked
then Age and preg status is on her for every one to read
Suzanne

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

So far, we've bought -0- from a sale barn and sold -0- through a sale barn. Selling, we deal with folks personally and right here on the place. Our buyers know EVERYTHING. I don't want to buy a wreck and I don't want to sell one. We deal with private parties nearby -- or at least with some sort of referral -- when we are in the buying mode.

 

[JW IN VA]

How do people feel about misrepresenting cattle they sell via the salebarn, how about buying misrepresented anaimls the same way?

Thanks

Misrepresenting anything you have for sale anywhere is unethical, isn't it?

Exactly.

+1

 

[Nesikep]

We've bought a couple lemons at equipment auctions!

 

[cow pollinater]

I'm really careful when I sell. If I do have an odd calf that is not weaned and vaccinated the same as the rest of what my calves are I'll hold it out and sell the following week because I know it will get paired with other calves that are weaned and vaccinated even if I point out that that particular calf is not. I wouldn't say that someone
not being that careful is unethical as long as 95% of the calves in that load are what they say they are but I want the buyer to get exactly what I tell the barn I'm selling them.
I also point out what kind of feed the calves have been on if it's different than what the majority of what the calves at that sale have been on. If I try to sell calves as forty five day wean that have been running on clover the buyers think "weaned 45 my white a$$" as they're still pretty fat.

 

[rockridgecattle]

As in lying about them? Not good.

More like trying to pass them off as something they ain;t

That would be lying. Either by minimizing or exaggerating. Lie number 6 and 12. Or it could be changing facts or omitting facts. Lie 1and 2. Or it could be a false fact with false emotions creating a false story. Lies 3, 4, and 5.

Either way you slice, dice, shred it, misrepresentation is lying.

 

[regolith]

Both times that I've sold cattle through the local sale yards they've been represented in the following sale report as something they weren't - breed and age.
I don't know if it was accidental or not. The breed thing was obvious by looking at them, but I'd have to feel sorry for anyone who bought my seven month calves believing they were yearlings and ready to run with the bull.
First lesson I take from that is buyer beware, second is to wonder whether it's even ethical to sell under those conditions. Which in my case means using 'direct to slaughter' sale routes instead, for baby calves and culls - not really available for half-grown calves, so I either decide not to rear the animal or carry him/her through to slaughter weight.

 

[TexasBred]

I sold a registered bull with a nut that had never dropped one time....guaranteed him too but made sure they knew about the nut that hadn't dropped. Sold quite a few cows with only 3 viable teats but those are very noticeable and they paid about what the old cows were worth. Only had a couple of crazies over the years but always marked them up good and also told the folks at the sale barns about them. I also use to bid on my own cattle if I thought they were about to sell to cheap. Worked out most times but a couple of times I bought my own cows. :shock:

 

[jedstivers]

I just really don't understand all this about a barn. It's a sale barn, I expect the worst out of it. I don't ecpect to be told anything unless it's a green tag calf sale and we have never bought them anyway.
As far as selling I usually don't take the cattle and I never stay. Now that we're were sending to Oklahoma I sure don't take them so there's no way Im going to tell anyone there how they are. Im not there to tell.
I will have the cows preg checked is all.

 

[TexasBred]

I just really don't understand all this about a barn. It's a sale barn, I expect the worst out of it. I don't ecpect to be told anything unless it's a green tag calf sale and we have never bought them anyway.
As far as selling I usually don't take the cattle and I never stay. Now that we're were sending to Oklahoma I sure don't take them so there's no way Im going to tell anyone there how they are. Im not there to tell.
I will have the cows preg checked is all.

Most times you get just about what you pay for....and your cattle sell for just about what they're worth. ;-)

 

[wacocowboy]

If I go to watch them sell I don't say anything good or bad about the animal. I don't ever dope my animals or do anything to make my animals look better. If you don't know what you are doing you probably shouldn't be bidding on cattle at an auction or you need to ask someone for help.

 

[herofan]

Although i have bought cows that came from the sale barn, I haven't had any direct dealings with one. I can't say how it works here for sure, but I think it's the belief that you never know what you're getting at the sale barn. I've never heard of anyone getting or receiving information about the cattle they buy at sale barns.

Last summer, for example, I sold a 2 year old heifer that hadn't bred, and she had a knot on her jaw that the vet didn't know what it was. I decided to sell her. I assumed it was "what you see is what you get." The guy who hauled her said any experienced cattle person could roughly tell her age and that she hadn't had a calf, so he said it was pretty obvious that she wasn't one that somebody would buy for breeding purposes. As for the knot, it was there for all to see, and they probably knew as much about it as I did.

On the other hand, if I had a perfectly healthy looking cow, but the vet told me she would probably fall dead in a month, I would certainly mention that.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I just really don't understand all this about a barn. It's a sale barn, I expect the worst out of it. I don't ecpect to be told anything unless it's a green tag calf sale and we have never bought them anyway.
As far as selling I usually don't take the cattle and I never stay. Now that we're were sending to Oklahoma I sure don't take them so there's no way Im going to tell anyone there how they are. Im not there to tell.
I will have the cows preg checked is all.

Most times you get just about what you pay for....and your cattle sell for just about what they're worth. ;-)

I guess we just need to start hoing and buying at the barns where these folks sell at then all our purchase will have full history report on the cows we buy then we can pass it along when we sell them to the next buyer
I think some of the cows we bought this yr and that died came from some of the posters on here so you guys need to give us our money back since you guarantee all the cattle you sell thru the barns
I will post our mailing adress on another topic so you can send it
We will be expecting it by the end of the week

Thank You

Also on the few calves I sold thru the barns they were always what I said they were weaned vacc and so forth as for cows most of the time I just dropped them off and either told them to preg check or weigh them
If you buy a weigh cow you are taking a chance if you take her home and try to breed her
If she is bred and they say she is 2nd stage and she is really first then that goes back to the barn and have fun trying to get them to make up the difference

 

[Nesikep]

I don't think you should say they're good stock if they aren't, but agreed that if they're going through as weigh cows, you don't have much responsibility except that they're fit for eating.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

I just really don't understand all this about a barn. It's a sale barn, I expect the worst out of it. I don't ecpect to be told anything unless it's a green tag calf sale and we have never bought them anyway.
As far as selling I usually don't take the cattle and I never stay. Now that we're were sending to Oklahoma I sure don't take them so there's no way Im going to tell anyone there how they are. Im not there to tell.
I will have the cows preg checked is all.

Well crap, I thought most barns around here had higher restrictions. Had some extra wheat pasture so bought what I thought were some older cows (broke and smoothed mouth) to calve out. Didn't realize they might just be young Arkansas cattle. :hide:

 

[jedstivers]

They were actually Mississippi cattle. We are buying some in AR now but none have gone yet.
When we ship be sure and buy more but I dont make any promises other than they walked on the truck.

 

[LauraleesFarm]

If every seller disclosed EVERY detail about the cattle they brought to the auction, it would take 3 days to get them all sold. Its a livestock auction barn. The purpose is to sell animals for beef. If someone wants to take a chance otherwise, it is buyer beware.

 

[John SD]

I always tried to represent my cattle honestly. I wouldn't necessarily be present when seilling culls Most defects such as lumps, cripples, bad feet or bad eyes are obvious.

Calves, yearlings, and breeding stock I always strived to be present and provide a "shot sheet" for vaccination protocols.

Every sale barn I've ever been in has a sign conspicuously posted to the effect that "All guarantees are between buyer and seller. We act as selling agents only"