Buyer beware

[Hpacres440p]

I am so thoroughly disgusted by seeing absolute beginners being scammed. On a FB cattle page, had a conversation with an older lady who gave $2400 for a "Mini" Beltie pair with a BCS of 1-2 on both the cow and calf. Her neighbor recommended a "reputable" rancher, who then sold her this unregistered pair-combined weight maybe 900 lbs. she said "he told me he wormed the and the vet said they were healthy". Of course, her son picked them up for her, probably didn't know to say no. Scruples are gone in so many places.

 

[Brute 23]

It happens all the time. You can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink. Some times they have to get burned to learn a lesson.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I hauled four "heavy" bred cows for a guy. He bought them off the farm from some one he thought he could trust. Sight unseen. So I go to pick them up. The sellers farm hand is there, not the seller. So here's the picture; no owner, no buyer just two guys stuck in the middle. I looked over the gate and I thought one of them was going to launch into orbit. Head up ears up on the hunt. Two of the cows were pretty alright. The forth was three legged lame.
I called the buyer; " one will kill you,and one is on three legs. What do you want me to do? " His response was that the seller said the lame cows always does that before she calves,and the head hunter will settle down when she gets home. Go ahead and load them. As far as that wild cow knew she was home!
I hauled them to a lot that I have because the new owner was going on vacation for a week and they were "heavy" bred.
I got along fine for a week. The new owner came home and was beside himself about what to do with the two problem cows. That was a Sunday night, I told him the mrkt cattle sale was on Tue. We loaded them on Monday night and he hauled them to the sale. The lame cow fell coming off the trailer at the sale and never stood up again.
The two cows that he kept out of the four are okay, but paying for four to get two is a hard lesson to learn.

 

[Son of Butch]

The lame cow fell coming off the trailer at the sale and never stood up again.

Lucky she fell OFF the trailer and not on the trailer.
Sale Barn livestock insurance will pay for the cow as it occurred on their property and not in the trailer. Sale barn employee might get a butt chewing for 'accepting' delivery by allowing a lame cow to get off.

 

[faster horses]

I hauled four "heavy" bred cows for a guy. He bought them off the farm from some one he thought he could trust. Sight unseen. So I go to pick them up. The sellers farm hand is there, not the seller. So here's the picture; no owner, no buyer just two guys stuck in the middle. I looked over the gate and I thought one of them was going to launch into orbit. Head up ears up on the hunt. Two of the cows were pretty alright. The forth was three legged lame.
I called the buyer; " one will kill you,and one is on three legs. What do you want me to do? " His response was that the seller said the lame cows always does that before she calves,and the head hunter will settle down when she gets home. Go ahead and load them. As far as that wild cow knew she was home!
I hauled them to a lot that I have because the new owner was going on vacation for a week and they were "heavy" bred.
I got along fine for a week. The new owner came home and was beside himself about what to do with the two problem cows. That was a Sunday night, I told him the mrkt cattle sale was on Tue. We loaded them on Monday night and he hauled them to the sale. The lame cow fell coming off the trailer at the sale and never stood up again.
The two cows that he kept out of the four are okay, but paying for four to get two is a hard lesson to learn.

You warned him and he chose not to listen. That makes it a hard lesson X2.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Lucky she fell OFF the trailer and not on the trailer.
Sale Barn livestock insurance will pay for the cow as it occurred on their property and not in the trailer. Sale barn employee might get a butt chewing for 'accepting' delivery by allowing a lame cow to get off.

That would have been best case scenario. Not only did the sale barn not turn it in to their insurance, they took the cost of the rendering truck out of the check for the wild cow.

 

[kenny thomas]

Delete. Misread the post

 

[SBMF 2015]

That would have been best case scenario. Not only did the sale barn not turn it in to their insurance, they took the cost of the rendering truck out of the check for the wild cow.

This sale barn used to have a lot of problems with cull dairy cows. Producers would wait until they were almost burned out and then haul them to the sale. They could walk off the truck and maybe even make it to the sale ring, but after several couldn't get up to get on a semi they started the policy that ; No checks are issued on Dairy cull cattle until after they leave the barn. The quality of cull milk cows increased dramatically after that.

 

[branxchar&charx]

You warned him and he chose not to listen. That makes it a hard lesson X2.

Whats even worse is when they dont realize or wont admit when they have been screwed over. Course this person wanted to keep a cow that prolapsed, an open cow that does not gain weight, and 2 cows that starved their calves to death because they produced no milk.

 

[dave_shelby]

There are a lot of folks in the cattle cattle business who misrepresent their cattle and/or believe their cattle are gold. The liars do most of the trading, I get too see them at every market and most of the Craigslist ads. Who here hasn't bought bred heifers and not got screwed? Learned that on my first set after losing 2/10 because they were bred to a high BW bull; and the calving period wasn't 60 days but over 100. This was from m a guy who came "recommended".

it doesn't stop there. I've discovered I need to be careful with custom work too. Payed a fellow to drill in some grass; fellow didn't set drill right and some annual rye was in seed box so I got strips that got progressively wider but that wasn't apparent until the next year. When I complained he offered to rent the field off me.

 

[greybeard]

Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of that experience comes from bad judgement.

 

[faster horses]

This sale barn used to have a lot of problems with cull dairy cows. Producers would wait until they were almost burned out and then haul them to the sale. They could walk off the truck and maybe even make it to the sale ring, but after several couldn't get up to get on a semi they started the policy that ; No checks are issued on Dairy cull cattle until after they leave the barn. The quality of cull milk cows increased dramatically after that.

We have a friend who used to haul those cows to be killed. His stories were terrible about loading and hauling those poor old worked to death milk cows. People should be ashamed.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

The following holds true ; especially in the cattle business> A good reputation can and sometimes will, follow years behind,
but rest assured notoriety will race ahead of you! The choice is yours..

I would add not only are we responsible for the product we sell but also to never tolerate another's paucity of ethics and propriety
in this great industry in which we are so fortunate to be included.

 

[SBMF 2015]

We have a friend who used to haul those cows to be killed. His stories were terrible about loading and hauling those poor old worked to death milk cows. People should be ashamed.

You didn't see much of this when family dairies were prevalent. Especially if they milked under 200 hd. The major problem for this sale barn was a dairy that milked over 2,000 cows.

 

[tex452]

We were supposed to buy 35 head of bred, corriente heifers from a guy (my son made the deal) and when they were delivered I said what the heck is this?
A lot of old cows ,1/2 were longhorn cows not heifers maybe 5 heifers in the whole bunch.
When we palpated them only 1/2 were bred.
Plus we paid way too much for them.
I was furious and told my son to call the guy that advertised bred heifers.
He did but nothing ever came of it.
I told my son to be very careful on the deals he makes in the future.
We should have knew better but the guy should have delivered what he advertised.
Too many dishonest people out there.

 

[Warren Allison]

Tuition is high, in the school of life.

 

[Buck Randall]

You didn't see much of this when family dairies were prevalent. Especially if they milked under 200 hd. The major problem for this sale barn was a dairy that milked over 2,000 cows.

I have to respectfully disagree with this. I've seen just as many, if not more cases of cows treated inhumanely on the small family dairies. It's rarely malicious; usually people who hang on to a cow too long thinking they'll be able to fix what's wrong with her, or just being oblivious to how bad things have gotten.

Most of the big farms know there is a target on their back and potentially a camera on everything they do. They're pretty aware of the image they're projecting and the salvage value of a shelly cow means less to them than it does to the smaller farms.

There are bad cattle people on farms of every size, unfortunately.

 

[bird dog]

Its not just craigs list. Two of the closest sale barns to my place are run by dishonest cattle traders. I won't even take my packer cows to them.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I have to respectfully disagree with this. I've seen just as many, if not more cases of cows treated inhumanely on the small family dairies. It's rarely malicious; usually people who hang on to a cow too long thinking they'll be able to fix what's wrong with her, or just being oblivious to how bad things have gotten.

Most of the big farms know there is a target on their back and potentially a camera on everything they do. They're pretty aware of the image they're projecting and the salvage value of a shelly cow means less to them than it does to the smaller farms.

There are bad cattle people on farms of every size, unfortunately.

Your probably right. I like to think that when the owners have a day to day interaction with the cows , like on a small dairy. They would be more in tune with the well fair of the cows.
But I can see where the "we can fix them" mentally can perpetuate an already bad cow into death walking .

 

[SBMF 2015]

Its not just craigs list. Two of the closest sale barns to my place are run by dishonest cattle traders. I won't even take my packer cows to them.

LIER LIER CATTLE BUYER.
You show me an honest sale barn, I show you one that won't be in business for long.
There all crooked, the reputable ones just hide it better.