Getting less at the sale barn

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blackladies said:
Sold steers, Trvlr asked for pics didn't have any of the steers but took some of the heifers I kept back that were similar to age/weight of the steers I sold. The winter coat is an issue even without much experience it is not visually appealing will try worming more often. Also some of the other suggestions, be willing to speak up when I am there and don't hear them call out the info I gave about shots, weaning, etc. A little embarrassing but when there is money on the line need to just get over it.
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Worming shouldn't be done too often. Some people don't worm at all and they claim they get good results. I usually wormed twice a year. Timing matters. Worm in the fall after the first hard frost and about six months later. You want the fall worming to kill internal parasites after their active infectors have been killed in your pastures, and the spring treatment to get the parasites after the spring surge of parasite reinfestation. At least that's my theory. Others may believe otherwise.
 
blackladies said:
Also some of the other suggestions, be willing to speak up when I am there and don't hear them call out the info I gave about shots, weaning, etc. A little embarrassing but when there is money on the line need to just get over it.
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In my world, I work an entire year for one day, and that's the day I sell my calves. Embarrassment is overrated;). You are your own best marketing manager. Slick up the calves a little (aforementioned worming), introduce yourself to the employees and auctioneer at the sale (prior!), and be ready the day of the sale with a copy of all the information you already provided when you drop them off.
 
You need to realize that singles and pairs will bring 10 to 40 cents LESS than most that are sold in bigger groups... that is just a fact of life... Sure, some will bring right up there and they will most often bring that if the person is trying to integrate them into a bigger group they just bought..... but singles and pairs just bring less. That is why we buy alot of these singles and pairs or small groups of 3-4 ... BECAUSE they bring less... and because they might have rough hair coats, might be wormy... are thinner and need some feed... and we will background them and make up groups of 5-25 or more to resell after having been backgrounded for 30-90 days... and we are in there bidding until we feel it is enough and we can't make any money on them...and let someone else have them.... or we buy them. We don't try to steal them and we bid against any and all that are also trying to buy them.... but sometimes we do "steal them" because no one else is wanting to bid more....

All that said... we also do not worm our animals often... because we try to keep animals that have a higher tolerance and that wind up having very low fecal egg counts and "stay fat on thin air"... We have been weeding out the "hard keepers" and the ones that get real thin and do not hold their weight and ones that need worming more often... We do however, worm most everything that is bought because we do not know what they have been exposed to and want them to get a good start with a clean gut tract.... and if they have a rough hair coat indicating possible worms... just to get them off to a better start.
 
blackladies said:
.70 cents a lb difference between same weight classes for some of the ones I watched go through, so say mine are not as good and we will call it half that, they should have brought at least .35 lb more. Just them not saying they have had their shots and are weaned would have to make a difference. Those that were bringing more were in bigger groups though.
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I see nothing that should make them bring .70 less.
 
blackladies said:
.70 cents a lb difference between same weight classes for some of the ones I watched go through, so say mine are not as good and we will call it half that, they should have brought at least .35 lb more. Just them not saying they have had their shots and are weaned would have to make a difference. Those that were bringing more were in bigger groups though.
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blackladies said:
.70 cents a lb difference between same weight classes for some of the ones I watched go through, so say mine are not as good and we will call it half that, they should have brought at least .35 lb more. Just them not saying they have had their shots and are weaned would have to make a difference. Those that were bringing more were in bigger groups though.
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How many people are buying at this sale for a 70 cent discount the place had to be almost empty. Verbally saying something is weaned and vaxed won't make any difference in prices in my area. I do share your frustration about your animals getting held tell the it's happened to me before 2.
 
Here's my 2 cents on the worming thing.

I think they have calf coat. Not wormy coat. Some shed earlier and some shed later IMO. I worm on an "as needed" basis and cull the repeat offenders. I have many that have never been wormed and seem to do fine. Some forages have natural deworming properties to them, chicory and plantain being two of them IIRC. I try to rely on them. Worm load is a heritable thing.

Your animals look fine to me. Definitely shouldn't have been penalized for anything other than being sold as singles. And that shouldn't have hurt them anything like the discount you got.

I'd find a different barn to sell through and be honest with them as to the reason you're trying them out. Here, there is a barn that's good to sell through, and there's a barn that's good to buy through. Took some $$$ to learn the difference.
 
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The place I go you are not getting docked .35-.70 for them not being weaned and vaccinated. You also are not getting that kind of premium for selling in large groups. You could bring 500 of them in and they will sell one at a time. We might be there until 3 a.m. but that is what they will do.

I agree with CV and that the animals look fine (not wormy) and you probably need to find some place else if you can.
 
The calves look okay but I would call them plain. Plain calves sell hit and miss. Some sales are 10-20 behind good calves. Others can be much more. There just aren't always many buyers at that sale for them. Also stuff like weaned and shots can sometimes not matter if there aren't many buyers to bid. If it says weaned and the calves are plain and just a handful of them, I assume they are short weaned and don't bid much. I like to hear weaned for so many days. Short weaned calves deserve a steep discount.

Also condition can greatly affect the top couple groups of calves. They may be 20-30 cents higher than the rest just because they are ready to put on some easy pounds.

With that said, that's 30-50 cents difference at a good sale for plain calves. Other sales are more.
 
I started getting better recognition (and prices) when I started using a fellow that knows the important people. Instead of hauling my own, I pay him to haul mine to the sale. He's well known and respected, so when he arrives the sale, people come to see what he has.

Up until 2012, my wife worked at a local sale barn and so the buyers knew us. When the barn burned down and never rebuilt, we had to start using another couple barns a couple hours away.
We got no recognition or respect until we had sold there several times, and utilizing a hauler that everyone knew.

Initially I didn't like the idea of paying someone else to haul my cattle, but after figuring cost and maintenance of trailer (plus the fact that if you have one, people WILL ASKED to borrow it), it's cheaper for me. The familiarity of the driver was an unexpected bonus.
 
They started one of mine a dime cheaper than what they had been starting. Bidding slowed. People were looking to see what was wrong with the steer. I was upset. Then bidding took off and I actually ended up doing okay. I have never been back to that barn.
 

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