Silco..that's very true! I'm from your neck of the woods (northern Illinois) and when I went to the sales up there, it was mostly culls. I bought day old (primarily dairy ) calves for years and raised them on bottles. They were pretty easy to find, but older calves almost non existent. And lots of yucky stuff you wouldn't want to take home!
When we moved to Texas 11 years ago, it was totally different. A sale every day of the week within probably 100 miles of me, and there are some good things there. Personally I don't buy at the auction, but we have registered cattle. But it's funny how different the sales are depending on the area.