buying calves and taking straight to sale barn

[Howdyjabo]

I hate trader cattle- they are single source vectors for train wrecks. there used to be a rule that calves could not be resold for 30 days, but no one bothered to pay attention to it.
You might be making a buck or two but you are sure screwing the next guy down the line.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Exactly what are the ways it is " screwing the next guy"???

 

[js1234]

I hate trader cattle- they are single source vectors for train wrecks. there used to be a rule that calves could not be resold for 30 days, but no one bothered to pay attention to it.
You might be making a buck or two but you are sure screwing the next guy down the line.

:roll:

 

[Tim/South]

When we unload we are asked if the cattle are farm or trader cattle. If they are farm cattle then it shows up on the screen when it goes through the ring.

This is kinda funny. I am not doubting what you say but wonder how many trader cattle are actually called farm cattle. I know one trader that sometimes has several different guys hauling into the market for him to hide that they are his.

Who ever hauls them still has to put them in someones name. Not saying there is not a way to cash a check made out to someone else, just does not seem worth the trouble.
The people who run the cattle sales are a savvy lot. It would be hard to fool them on a regular basis.
Most of the cattle sold in the southeast are shipped west of the Mississippi. Those buyers want to know if a calf has been exposed to other sales that week and hauled around.

 

[salebarn junkie]

I hate trader cattle- they are single source vectors for train wrecks. there used to be a rule that calves could not be resold for 30 days, but no one bothered to pay attention to it.
You might be making a buck or two but you are sure screwing the next guy down the line.

So one day in the barn is good 2 days is bad ????? The only way you can get screwed at a sale is if your stubid enough to believe what the auctioner says. Things like had a round of shots but its a bull calf with no ear tag or one owner but its glue spots from the tag at another sale. The only thing you can trust buying cattle is your own eyes. Buy them take them home and treat them like they have never hada shot.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I hate trader cattle- they are single source vectors for train wrecks. there used to be a rule that calves could not be resold for 30 days, but no one bothered to pay attention to it.
You might be making a buck or two but you are sure screwing the next guy down the line.

So one day in the barn is good 2 days is bad ????? The only way you can get screwed at a sale is if your stubid enough to believe what the auctioner says. Things like had a round of shots but its a bull calf with no ear tag or one owner but its glue spots from the tag at another sale. The only thing you can trust buying cattle is your own eyes. Buy them take them home and treat them like they have never hada shot.

Exactly! Alot of sense in this post. Also if you know what your doing when you buy, handle them right at home, don't mix them with others for a couple days, and you know at the first sign of sickness to get them a shot of something that actually works, you'll be fine, if you can't do that, then buying calves isn't for you.

 

[Howdyjabo]

And we wonder why people believe that you can only buy junk at a salebarn.

A salebarn is a critical part of the system so smaller producers have somewhere close to sell their animals. When its used as a dumping ground it hurts everyone.
Not to mention having some care for the welfare of the animals.
Rip them away from their home(stress starts) haul them, run them thru a sale(exposed to bugs)load them up and let them sit(probably in a spot with even more bugs than the salebarn). Load them again for another ride. run them thru another sale(real stressed and ready to pick up even more bugs that are around). Loaded again took home and processed the next day. Total stress time 4 days. 4 different spots to pick up bugs. Its now shedding bugs when the other new calves are at their most vulnerable.

Yeah I agree with buyer beware- but that still doesn't make you a person of respect in the cattle industry. Buy your bargains and take them home for 30 days.

 

[B&M Farms]

And we wonder why people believe that you can only buy junk at a salebarn.

A salebarn is a critical part of the system so smaller producers have somewhere close to sell their animals. When its used as a dumping ground it hurts everyone.
Not to mention having some care for the welfare of the animals.
Rip them away from their home(stress starts) haul them, run them thru a sale(exposed to bugs)load them up and let them sit(probably in a spot with even more bugs than the salebarn). Load them again for another ride. run them thru another sale(real stressed and ready to pick up even more bugs that are around). Loaded again took home and processed the next day. Total stress time 4 days. 4 different spots to pick up bugs. Its now shedding bugs when the other new calves are at their most vulnerable.

Yeah I agree with buyer beware- but that still doesn't make you a person of respect in the cattle industry. Buy your bargains and take them home for 30 days.

I agree.

 

[salebarn junkie]

Do you not understand how a salebarn works? The more buyers at one the more money the seller makes. Somebody has taken there cavles to the wrong barn for whatever reason if somebody wasn't jockeying cattle there would have been less bidders and your so called small producers would have gone home with less money in there pocket. I've never gone to a sell and worried about people respecting me, its a sale barn not church.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

I can see both sides of this arguement, but have to agree with howdy. Most small producers are trying to buy something to take home, take care of and then bring back and try to make money for their hard work. As a buyer you have no way of knowing if an animal has been sold thru 3 barns that week and has caught something that may not even show up until you get them to your place for a few days.

 

[Howdyjabo]

In reality of calf welfare should put us all out of business. Good Husbandry would dictate that calves were preconditioned on farm and there would be no bargains ,to turn to make money on.
Thats not going to happen, so stopping flipping would be the next best thing for the calves welfare.

As far as contributing to the farmers pocket by flipping cattle-- what you are putting into ones you are taking out of anothers so its a wash. Now take them home for 30 days and you are adding value to both ends. Shouldn't that be a cattlemans ultimate goal?

 

[John SD]

:help: me understand :???: :???: :???: I'm with Howdy and others. If I'm reading correctly, what this whole thread is about not only seems backasswards, but smacks of unethical while giving the whole cattle business a black eye.

Now I do understand the concept of a buyer taking a chance and buying odd/sick/crippled calves at an auction, taking them home for a month or whatever, curing what ails them, and then reselling after the calf has recovered.

The buyer takes a educated risk doing so. Sometimes the calf recovers fully and the buyer is handsomely rewarded for their efforts. Sometimes the calf ends up at the "profit pile".

But for a rancher to take an unneccesary financial hit and allow a needless middleman to take buy his farm fresh calves under market price the farm, misrepresent them to an unknowing buyer, thus turning them into "trader cattle" right off the bat seems like a stupid marketing plan that does not serve the rancher well at all. Most ranchers I know work quite hard at building and maintaining a good name. To squander that reputation by doing somethins so foolish is unfathomable.

Even if a rancher has only has a small odd lot of calves to sell why does he not simply load the calves up and haul to market themselves? Or sell through an order buyer on the ranch directly to the new owner? Another option would be a video auction.

If they only have a handful of calves, the owner could pool calves to market with a neighbor who has similar cattle. I've seen it done many times to make larger and load lots. Weigh seperately and sell together for seperate checks.

This does work best with calves of similar age and genetics with the same shot program. My uncles bought herd bulls from the same guy and used to sell their AngusXGelb calves this way every year. Always a stout, even looking bunch of calves. Just different tags and brands.

Selling together allowed them to sell load lots for a better price than either could accomplish alone.

The rancher has done all the hard work before sale day already - feeding/calving/branding/shots/ haying/fixing fence/keeping tabs all year. Hauling calves to market is something a rancher looks forward to all year. It's the most rewarding part of the whole cattle business and requires the least time/effort/expense.

Sale day is what a rancher lives for, and THE day we anticipate all year. Why spoil it with needless and questionable dealings:???: :???: :???: