Auction order

[Dana Kopp]

When you take your cattle to an auction, does your yards sell them in the order that they were brought in or in some other order?

The reason I ask is that we have hauled calves to a yard and made sure they were there the evening before so that they could (presumably) sell in the feeder sale the next morning. More than once they have changed sale order and pushed the calves to after the lunch break claiming that more feeders were still coming in and they could keep them together. The last time we hauled some in, more than 22 hours after we dropped them off they still hadn't sold. Any thoughts??

 

[Dee]

Here they do feeders first also. Big pot loads, and big $ cattle first. If you bring in a few head of calves they will be twords the bottom.

 

[Hawk]

I have never know of a sale barn to try to sort cattle by which ones came in first. Generally, cattle are penned by type (bulls, pairs, feeders etc). Once they are all together in a common pen, there is no way to easily determine which one got there first, and there is no logical reason to attempt to do so IMHO. The barn does need to sell all of a group together. In other word, once they start selling bulls, they need to sell all of the bulls before they go on the the next class of cattle. This arrangement should benefit both the buyers and the sellers. Keep in mind that the owner of the sale get paid by commission. The more he can sell your calves for the more money goes in his pocket. If he isn't doing every thing he can to maximize the price you get for your product, he probably won't be in business very long. If you have a questing you should talk to him. Every one that I have ever met have been more than happy to talk to anyone that is utilizing the services of his operation.

 

[Alan]

Here they go from the youngest group to the oldest, Day olds to oldies. Unless you haul in late then they come in when they get in.

 

[cherokeeruby]

At the Emory sale barn the order of sale is baby calves and calves that don't fit with regular calves, such as bottle feds or sickly looking calves.
Next the pairs are sold, maybe the bulls next, then bred and open cows, last comes the feeder calves which generally sell in the order they were brought to the barn. Basically calves carrying 100-199 sell before the 200-299, not an iron clad rule, but you can count on your low numbered calves selling before the high numbered calves.

Also the pairs, cows and bulls sell in approximate numerical order.

 

[dcara]

The few times I've called the Emory sale barn to find out the sale order they have told me pretty much the same thing as cherokeeruby said. Their termonology is:
1st is goats and horses, 2nd is small calves, ,3rd is baby calves
4th is packer and slaughter cows, 5th is bulls, 6th is stocker cows and feeder cows, last is big calves

 

[Dana Kopp]

When I had called in to check order, I was told the sale would start at 9 with feeders then bulls & open cows and then move to stock cows. When there are baby calves they usually sell right after lunch, before the stock cows. If there are sheep, goats, or pigs they might sell after lunch or at the end of the sale. The sale didn't get started until 10 and then they changed order. There aren't usually more than one or two producers that bring large loads of cattle at each sale. Most are the smaller producers bringing in a trailer load or two, if even that many. I can understand wanting to keep everything together for the buyers, but shrinkage hurts everyone. Each load of cattle is penned separately, though they may combine single cows or calves (from different owners) into one pen they are split for the sale. Our brand inspectors have to verify the brand/ownership on every animal that comes through the sale so it it much easier to take them from trailer to pen and not have to re-sort from a common pen.

As an aside, do any of you sell to 4-H kids or club calf programs? Do you reduce your price or ask a premium for proven winners?

 

[hillbilly]

I used to wait and watch, fret and worry, maybe cuss a little.

Now I just drop'em off and go. When they mail me the check, its about the same.

I'm trying to live longer...
Less stressss,

Hillbilly

 

[jw]

[The few times I've called the Emory sale barn to find out the sale order they have told me pretty much the same thing as cherokeeruby said. Their termonology is:
1st is goats and horses, 2nd is small calves, ,3rd is baby calves
4th is packer and slaughter cows, 5th is bulls, 6th is stocker cows and feeder cows, last is big calves]


Isn't it fun to go there and watch the goats sell for 2 hours while you're waiting for the cattle to sell!!!!????[/quote]

 

[sidney411]

Dana,

Do you brand all of your calves? How do you establish ownership on calves that you don't brand? We don't brand any of our calves. We have never been asked to verify ownership of any of the cattle we have taken to the sale. I have taken cattle for other people that have different brands then ours and was never questioned. We have had to sign a paper saying that none of the animals have been fed any meat by-products the last 2 times we've been to the sale though. Interesting!

 

[Dana Kopp]

Dana,

Do you brand all of your calves? How do you establish ownership on calves that you don't brand? We don't brand any of our calves. We have never been asked to verify ownership of any of the cattle we have taken to the sale. I have taken cattle for other people that have different brands then ours and was never questioned. We have had to sign a paper saying that none of the animals have been fed any meat by-products the last 2 times we've been to the sale though. Interesting!

Yep, we signed off on the no by-products several years ago. At first we had to sign off each time we brought animals in to sell but then they created a sheet as a "permanent" record that we signed off on.

I bet you didn't get the money for the calves though! We brand and ear tag all of our calves, though a couple times we have had a late calf that doesn't get branded. In that case they take our word that we raised it, it helps that we know them (the inspectors) well, though if there was any question they would hold the sale until the ownership was verified. Here is a link to a story about two calves that were stolen and DNA testing verified their ownership. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2002/05/29/export11695.txt
I can haul someone elses calves into the market, that happens a lot. I must sign off as the "hauler" so my name is on record if the animals were stolen or there were any question. But the check goes to the person whose brand is on the animal. If I own a cow and she is branded with another person's brand I have to prove ownership with a bill of sale in order to receive the check. Even if I have branded her with my brand I would need to keep all bills of sale/inspections to prove that I didn't just take her and slap my brand on. A bill of sale/inspection is also required for animals going to slaughter even if it is one steer going to your local locker for butcher. A bill of sale is written out to the locker for the hide so the animal can be traced back to previous owners if needed.
There are a lot of ins and outs of brands and inspections for both horses and cattle - quite interesting stuff actually.

 

[sidney411]

Yes, the check was sent to the owner, I was just hauling him. I have a cow in my name that did not have my brand, it did have a big rib brand from the previous owner. I did not have to show any type of ownership, I picked up the check after she sold, no questions asked. I have even had someone else (uncle and brother) pick up our checks. They gave them out, no questions or identification asked. Kind of scary

 

[Dana Kopp]

Yes, to think that if you didn't report a missing animal it might go through the sale, no questions asked and someone else gets the money, sure makes my bank account cringe.
There are always stories of the neighbors who get into an arguement over the fence crawling bull and neighbor 2 hauls neighbor 1's prize bull to town. Neighbor 1 knows nothing of it until he gets the check in the mail.

As a hauler you can claim a part of the check when you drop off calves. You have to fill out a special page with all your info and the hauling charge, then after the animals sell your charge is automatically deducted from the total and you are cut a separate check.

 

[Oldtimer]

If I own a cow and she is branded with another person's brand I have to prove ownership with a bill of sale in order to receive the check. Even if I have branded her with my brand I would need to keep all bills of sale/inspections to prove that I didn't just take her and slap my brand on. [/quote]
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Dana - While it is a good idea to keep all bills of sale and sale releases-- on a cow that is rebranded with your brand you do not need a bill of sale as long as your brand has peeled and healed... If its a fresh brand you do need the bill of sale-- Since it is the law that any animal coming into the state or any changing ownership require an inspection there should be a recorded transfer on record if a question ever arises because of several brands.......

 

[Dana Kopp]

Yes, you are very right - in fact we had a message about fresh freeze brands and inspections a couple months ago from the State. I was just thinking along the lines of someone trying to get away with something - I didn't think my statement all the way through. Thanks for correcting me!

 

[cattle_gal]

Dana,

I think it was what mood he was in that day. Or who had some influence stock going that day. But usually the do sell them by when you come in. First to last. The auction you maybe familair with, last year I had brought in the calves 4 days early because I had cull cows to sell earlier in the week. the end of the week feeder sale they were one of the first to go. Ok the second group. And the sale started a hour early than the usual sales, only a hand full of buyers yet for the biggest calf sale. Plus I had replacements selling that day to. Which also went early. What Teed me off was I sent the informatin on all the calves selling and I went all the way up to the sale. When they started selling mine the auctioner looked at me, because he always read the information on there. He had nothing on them this year. I stopped the sale and asked loudly to the manager where is the information I sent you. I think he was surprised to see me there. All he side was - in my office. So I had to fumble bumble my way through to tell about the calves and replacements. I was ticked. Guess what - I didn't go back this year. After being top market there for so long someone must have took him aside and told him to do other wise. Well another auction yard was glad to get me there this year to bring up there market.

 

[Hillary_Indiana]

At our local sale barn they sale from youngest to oldest. I think it's a good method because you have an idea of what's going to come in and if you would be interested in buying it or not. If you are looking for calves...you can leave after the first fifteen minutes of the cattle sale. If someone arrives late with cattle then they would put them at the end though.

 

[bolsen]

Our Brand inspectors here at the yards in south dakota are pretty crazy they dont ask for any type of Brand cert or anything just drop them off and go

 

[Craig-TX]

Our Brand inspectors here at the yards in south dakota are pretty crazy they dont ask for any type of Brand cert or anything just drop them off and go

What's your brand?

Craig-TX

 

[bolsen]

The runnin W