Buying cattle at the sale barn

[Craig-TX]

Seems like auction barns are taking another round of hard knocks on these boards lately. We buy cows private treaty and at regular weekly auctions. Just because a cow is at a sale barn does not mean something is wrong with her. Might be, might not be. There are legitimate reasons an animal might be going through the ring. I should make it clear that we are strictly commercial producers and could not care less about papers.

Most animals are goosey for a couple of days when you get them home. If you try to avoid the crazy ones you will usually have pretty good luck with them settling down. While disposition is important to me it's only one factor and I don't need nor expect an animal to be as gentle as a lamb. I don't agree with the notion that a rancher should never buy at auction barns. Every now and then you get a bum deal. That's part of doing business and we never quit learning.

Overall, for cow/calf operations, the sale barn is one viable way to purchase stock. I might be lucky but if so we've been lucky for decades.

Craig-TX

 

[Beefy]

i agree Craig. i personally have never bought anything from a salebarn, but i wouldnt be opposed to it either. we sell good stuff all the time at salebarns as well as culls and even some jam up good heifers from time to time.

if you know what you are doing and know what to look for you ought to be able to tell the junk from the good stuff, for the most part. I'd be just as careful selecting cattle to buy private treaty as i would at a salebarn.

 

[sillco]

Seems like auction barns are taking another round of hard knocks on these boards lately. We buy cows private treaty and at regular weekly auctions. Just because a cow is at a sale barn does not mean something is wrong with her. Might be, might not be. There are legitimate reasons an animal might be going through the ring. I should make it clear that we are strictly commercial producers and could not care less about papers.

Most animals are goosey for a couple of days when you get them home. If you try to avoid the crazy ones you will usually have pretty good luck with them settling down. While disposition is important to me it's only one factor and I don't need nor expect an animal to be as gentle as a lamb. I don't agree with the notion that a rancher should never buy at auction barns. Every now and then you get a bum deal. That's part of doing business and we never quit learning.



Overall, for cow/calf operations, the sale barn is one viable way to purchase stock. I might be lucky but if so we've been lucky for decades.

Craig-TX

I wish we had a sale barn that we could buy replacements. Up here all animals that go to the barn go to harvest. Its the dairy influence, cull cows.

I am having trouble finding a few 500 lb. calves to put on grass. They are just not at the sale barn.

 

[bwalsh]

I suppose it depends on your area, but we have had pretty good luck with our purchases at sale barns. Sometimes that means going home empty handed, though. Also, in certain cases, disposition can be a matter of a cow's environment and handling. Just my opinion.

 

[J Baxter]

I've bout several at our local auction and have been extremely pleased with each one. I get to the sale a hour or two early and spend a tremendous amount of time scrutinizing the cattle. Sometimes I find something I want, sometimes I end up coming home empty handed, but I always enjoy myself.

 

[Double R Ranch]

Here in California it is a weekly occurance to buy at the auction. All my cow are bought and sold at the local auction yard. Most people that I know or deal with buy and sell at the auction. We have atleast 2500 head of cattle every week go threw our local auction. I believe that atleast that many go threw the other markets in the area or close to it. Although I am pretty careful of what I buy I have gotten a few that were barren. But I also had many nice calves this year out of auction yard stock. The drawback to buying at the auction is that is is like a hospital. Every disease known to man is there!!! We make sure and give a dose of wormer and antibiotic and also keep the animals separate for about a month just top be sure not to spread any diseases to my healthy stock.

 

[TexasCountryWoman]

Ditto on the DISEASE! As a retired RN, I guess that is foremost in my mind. Disease! I can't imagine bringing something home from the sale barn, despite quaratine, worming, or meds. It just seems too risky to put my gals in jepardy.

 

[Craig-TX]

If the risks were that serious sale barns would have gone out of business decades ago. And most true cattlemen who actually made their living as producers over that same time span would have not known what they were doing.

Craig-TX

 

[TXBobcat]

Seems to me that most people who really dislike sale barns are trying to sell over-priced cattle out of their pasture. :roll:

 

[TheBullLady]

Our neighbor about 3 miles down the road always buys his females at the sale barn.. and about 10 years ago he bought something that brought a contagious disease into his herd, and lost about 25% of his herd.

THAT'S the biggest reason I don't like to buy at the auction. But I know they do have good stuff.. I occassional sell calves there!

 

[la4angus]

Our neighbor about 3 miles down the road always buys his females at the sale barn.. and about 10 years ago he bought something that brought a contagious disease into his herd, and lost about 25% of his herd.

THAT'S the biggest reason I don't like to buy at the auction. But I know they do have good stuff.. I occassional sell calves there!

That same animal may have brought that same contagious disease from the farm or ranch that he came from. Is there any verification of where it came from or was he a trader animal?

 

[Rustler9]

I don't usually buy from the sale barn but I do sell some there. I raise registered Texas Longhorns but also have a few crossbred beef cows that I sell their offspring at the local auction barn. I also have started selling Longhorn bull calves that aren't going to make it as breeding stock there rather than have to deal with a roper buyer. It seems that the roper buyers that I know are so moody-always not big enough, too big or horns either too long or too short. We usually try to group bull calves by age/size to sell.
We sold some a couple of weeks ago and were pleased to get $1.00 per pound. We also sold some Longhorn cross heifers there and evidently one of the guys that works there called someone and told them that we had brought theses heifers in. He came and bought them as replacements to breed to a Charolais bull. He said that he liked Longhorn cross cows as brood cows and was glad to get them.

 

[Texan]

We also sold some Longhorn cross heifers.............. He came and bought them as replacements to breed to a Charolais bull.

Now that takes guts!

 

[Rustler9]

What takes guts?

 

[hillbilly]

Now that takes guts!


I think what he is saying is it takes guts to breed a Charolais bull to longhorn cows.

Hillbilly

 

[Rustler9]

It's pretty common around here-Charolais bulls on Longhorn cows make a big cream colored calf that sells good. The Longhorn cross cows are good mamas and are easy calvers.

 

[WORANCH]

We also sold some Longhorn cross heifers.............. He came and bought them as replacements to breed to a Charolais bull.

Now that takes guts!

i know a guy that buys cheep longhorn cows at the sale barn and breeds them to charolais . he gets white or cream colored calves that sell just as good as stright charolais, the first calf more than pays for the cow...

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

A previous owner of our A.I. Certified Longhorn bull, "Jet Black Phantom," had used him on Charolais cows. The calves brought better price than their non-Longhorn breedings did.

 

[TexasCountryWoman]

If I implied in my post that I knocked sale barns, that was incorrect. The nearest town to us is pop. 1,100 and it has an auction barn that has held a sale every Saturday since before I was born. Around here every town has one, a sale each day of the week. I grew up playing in in that place. That's where our commercial cattle have always gone. I would just be afraid of the off chance of picking up bad cattle there and bringing it home. I have bought baby calves there and taken them straight to the vet. That is how I started my commercial herd many years ago, with a few bottle calves. But now my herd is essentially closed. I raised all my own replacement heifers. If I get a new bull, he has to be pretty well vet checked out and from a safe herd.

 

[Anonymous]

Sillco (sp.) You should check out Bloomington , Wi. Livestock barn if looking for 500# calves. Pretty actice place. Or ask the barn owner some names of people you may contact the sellers are from near and far!