Very few cows that are on the farm are actually fresh---most were bought at a sale and then are being passed off as fresh on the farm. I have much better luck buying at the sales barn. We have about 15 sales barns within 80 miles of my house (used to be 20) so almost all cattle are bought and sold through cattle auctions. Things to do if you are going to buy at a sale. Know what you want and what you are willing to pay. Go through the pens and look at the cattle. Have they had sale tags on them previously? You can tell by glue or skinned places or if tags seem to be in different places on each cow, they are probably covering old tag marks. Look at eyes, are they clear? If ears are down, feet, how they walk, if something seems wrong, it probably is. Does the cow have a good udder? You cant always tell in the ring. Does the cow have any swollen areas? Those can tell if the cow has been given anitbiotics recently. Does the cow stink? Any unnatural smell can be a sign of a major digestive problem. Most barns have the checkin slip copy on the pen gate. Look at the slip---who is selling the animal? Is it a private person or the sale barn owner---with experience you can recognize cattle jockey names. Does the cow act wild or does she try to get away from you? She is probably too crazy. If a worker comes by, just ask offhand if he knows who brought these cattle in. Some people like to talk and will give you the whole story, others will beat around the bush---that can tell you something. I will ask the unloaders who brought certain cattle in that I am interested in. They are usually pretty talkative. Then, if you want the animal, decide while you are looking at her what you are willing to pay. Do not wait until you see her in the ring and the bidding starts or you are likely to pay way too much. I buy 300-500 cows per year at sales barns and have bought twice that in certain years. It takes experience and if you take a friend, make sure that friend knows what they are doing---you can make just a big of a mistake relying on a friend who just thinks he knows what he is doing. Also, if the sale barn will not let you walk around the pens, don't buy there----the insurance excuse is just an excuse to keep you from learning what you need to know about the cattle. Best of luck