Getting less at the sale barn

[BFE]

I felt like I was taking a hit locally so I started hauling calves just shy of two hours drive. This barn has special feeder calf sales. Two rounds of their vac protocol wormed long weaned and cut or banded, no clamping. My calves bring at or near the top, but the range posted on the sales report is normally pretty narrow.

Only time I felt I got a raw deal was on a calf with a droopy ear, but I understand why they paid less. He was also that way but healthy and grew good, but I know why the buyer might think otherwise.

Add value where you can.

 

[Warren Allison]

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...

Exact opposite down here. As a matter of fact, if you carry some and try to sell them as a group, they will try to explain to you it is best to spit them up and why. If you carry a "group" and don't say anything, the barn will send them in one at a time on their own. You send say, a group of 8 cows in together. and the auctioneer says "bidding on one and 8 times the money," you will bid on the worst one in the bunch. If they announce buyer gets to pick and chose, the the good ones will bring more that way, but never what they would have one at a time. People view it like there ought to be a volume discount, so give them selves one by their bidding. Maybe you just need one cow and don't need 8, so you will pay moire for the cow you want, than you would for all 8....7 of which you don't want or need, so will have to sell them.

 

[farmerjan]

Cow sales, especially breds, are better sold as singles... and often they will do the same thing... buyer has option to take one or all of a group that comes in. Cows will often be sold in small groups of 2-4 ... cows that are not cull/pound cows are totally different than selling feeder calves. Most bred cow sales will sell as singles or pairs... and cows with calves will often be sold in groups of 2 or 3 with similar sized and sex calves... But yes, they are mostly sold as singles.

I was referring to calves sold, as feeders, in singles or pairs or small groups of 3, bringing less than bigger even sized groups of feeder calves.

 

[Logan52]

In our area, it seems bred cows or cow and calf pairs sell best in groups of two to four, but singles seem to do fine.
For yearlings or long weaned calves the truck load lot far outsells singles or small groups. Even for bawling calves weaned on the trailer, it helps to have a group six to ten well matched calves.
When I first got a computer and began to watch auctions on line, I was amazed to see yards in Texas and the south sell all their calves one at a time.
What is the perceived advantage in this? With calves that match up well, I would think they should do better in groups.

I might add that weigh cows almost always sell one at a time.

 

[bird dog]

What is the perceived advantage in this? With calves that match up well, I would think they should do better in groups.

No advantage. Most of the barns simply do not have enough separate pens or the personnel to sort them. They sell a calf every 10 to 15 seconds so much quicker just to pen them all together and run them one at a time. Thats also the reason why it doesn't help to tell the unloading crew their shot record. It won't get announced.

Now if you have a large uniform group of say 15 or more that are long weaned and have had shots, they will keep them separate if they have the space but will still usually run them one at a time rather than sort by sex.

At the stock yards in OKC, they leave it up to the commision company man that you choose to sort the calves and to get your info to the auctioneer. All calves up there sell in groups of three or more. There are many folks including myself that make that long drive for that reason. Since your animals are fed grain and watered in a small pen your shrink is low. The auctioneer will announce your weaning time and shot status if he is told what it is. The price is also a little better. Put all this together and it usually makes the trip worth it. Its always worth it if your calves are 7 weights or bigger.

 

[Warren Allison]

No advantage. Most of the barns simply do not have enough separate pens or the personnel to sort them. They sell a calf every 10 to 15 seconds so much quicker just to pen them all together and run them one at a time. Thats also the reason why it doesn't help to tell the unloading crew their shot record. It won't get announced.

Now if you have a large uniform group of say 15 or more that are long weaned and have had shots, they will keep them separate if they have the space but will still usually run them one at a time rather than sort by sex.

At the stock yards in OKC, they leave it up to the commision company man that you choose to sort the calves and to get your info to the auctioneer. All calves up there sell in groups of three or more. There are many folks including myself that make that long drive for that reason. Since your animals are fed grain and watered in a small pen your shrink is low. The auctioneer will announce your weaning time and shot status if he is told what it is. The price is also a little better. Put all this together and it usually makes the trip worth it. Its always worth it if your calves are 7 weights or bigger.

What is a commission company man?

 

[bird dog]

What is a commission company man?

At the National Stockyards in OKC you pick from 9 or 10 commission companies to assign your calves too. When you unload the yard guys move your calves to their set of pens. ( Its a big place) Your calves are placed in a pen appropriate in size to the number of calves you. have. The commission company has a couple guys in the yard who are very experienced and will sort your calves to where they think they will sale best. They also feed them a few times during the day if they are eating well and not overly full.
Usually the commission company owner or his lead yard man accompany your calves into the ring, lets the auctioneer know their details and sets the opening price. The commission companies also all have a order buying business. The commission company gets paid on a per head basis as well as does the yard. A feed charge is also subtracted from your check and depends on how many days they are there. You can watch the sale on the internet. I attach a couple pictures from a load I took last year. I take them very early sunday morning so that is why it looks empty. The majority of the calves come in Sunday afternoon.
Its a neat place just way to far for me to go more than a few times a year.

 

[SBMF 2015]

What are you getting per pound for these ones @blackladies? View attachment 31167

A premium. They're on the "All Natural" program.

 

[Brute 23]

View attachment 31261View attachment 31262

Its very interesting to see the difference in yards. Ours are 6' + and boarded top to bottom or have guard rails and they still get some escapees from time to time. 90% is completely under cover and what isn't... still has shaded areas.

It's amazing to me the faith they have those panels but obviously it works.

 

[gcreekrch]

Its very interesting to see the difference in yards. Ours are 6' + and boarded top to bottom or have guard rails and they still get some escapees from time to time. 90% is completely under cover and what isn't... still has shaded areas.

It's amazing to me the faith they have those panels but obviously it works.

Not everywhere has wild braymer cattle and wilder Rebel cowboys!

 

[Warren Allison]

At the National Stockyards in OKC you pick from 9 or 10 commission companies to assign your calves too. When you unload the yard guys move your calves to their set of pens. ( Its a big place) Your calves are placed in a pen appropriate in size to the number of calves you. have. The commission company has a couple guys in the yard who are very experienced and will sort your calves to where they think they will sale best. They also feed them a few times during the day if they are eating well and not overly full.
Usually the commission company owner or his lead yard man accompany your calves into the ring, lets the auctioneer know their details and sets the opening price. The commission companies also all have a order buying business. The commission company gets paid on a per head basis as well as does the yard. A feed charge is also subtracted from your check and depends on how many days they are there. You can watch the sale on the internet. I attach a couple pictures from a load I took last year. I take them very early sunday morning so that is why it looks empty. The majority of the calves come in Sunday afternoon.
Its a neat place just way to far for me to go more than a few times a year.

View attachment 31261View attachment 31262

They MAKE you sign your calves over to this "company", that you have to pay them to sell your calves, and this company is owned by the order buyers?!!! Sounds like some kind of union scam to me! Are all sale barns in Oklahoma run that way, or just that one?

 

[BFE]

Its very interesting to see the difference in yards. Ours are 6' + and boarded top to bottom or have guard rails and they still get some escapees from time to time. 90% is completely under cover and what isn't... still has shaded areas.

It's amazing to me the faith they have those panels but obviously it works.

Double posted every 4 ft, those panels would hold even big calves good. I don't know about a big rank bull though.

 

[bird dog]

They MAKE you sign your calves over to this "company", that you have to pay them to sell your calves, and this company is owned by the order buyers?!!! Sounds like some kind of union scam to me! Are all sale barns in Oklahoma run that way, or just that one?

Yes order buying is part of their business. No unions involved. Its been the same for over 100 years so I would guess the sellers are okay with the process. They ran 10,000 on Monday so they must do something right. You pay them to represent your calves and to take care of them until sale time. Its a different set of buyers up there. Its not a few guys in the stands trying to put together a load to resell. My dad said they had the same type of system at the Ft.Worth stockyards when he worked there back in the 50's.

Its probably the only yard in OK that works this way but it is also far larger than any others except OKC West. OKC West is similar but they do all of their commission company work in house. Some prefer that barn, other like the stockyards. Maybe the folks that live in OK can give us more info as mine is limited to these two.

 

[bird dog]

Its very interesting to see the difference in yards. Ours are 6' + and boarded top to bottom or have guard rails and they still get some escapees from time to time. 90% is completely under cover and what isn't... still has shaded areas.

It's amazing to me the faith they have those panels but obviously it works.

Its a unique way of doing pens. The posts are split and the wire runs between them and then the whole thing is bolted together. You rarely see any wild cattle up there and they discourage it. The whole place is set up for volumes of healthy calves that have been well taken care of are ready to go to the feed yard or to big grazing operations. Heavy eared cattle do poorly especially in the fall.

 

[Travlr]

Yes order buying is part of their business. No unions involved. Its been the same for over 100 years so I would guess the sellers are okay with the process. They ran 10,000 on Monday so they must do something right. You pay them to represent your calves and to take care of them until sale time. Its a different set of buyers up there. Its not a few guys in the stands trying to put together a load to resell. My dad said they had the same type of system at the Ft.Worth stockyards when he worked there back in the 50's.

Its probably the only yard in OK that works this way but it is also far larger than any others except OKC West. OKC West is similar but they do all of their commission company work in house. Some prefer that barn, other like the stockyards. Maybe the folks that live in OK can give us more info as mine is limited to these two.

Well ya learn something new every day...

I've done business with what I thought was all kinds of sale barns but that's a new one on me. Ten thousand head a day is a lot, especially this time of year.

 

[50/50Farms]

Well ya learn something new every day...

I've done business with what I thought was all kinds of sale barns but that's a new one on me. Ten thousand head a day is a lot, especially this time of year.

Sounds like a great way to do business if you've got the stock to measure up for it, really.

 

[farmerjan]

A premium. They're on the "All Natural" program.

All natural cattle here do bring as much or more of a premium... even the more "common looking calves"... there are 2 buyers that will get into a bit of a bidding war on some of them... but again... if there are 2 that want them, then you are in the money....

 

[50/50Farms]

All natural cattle here do bring as much or more of a premium... even the more "common looking calves"... there are 2 buyers that will get into a bit of a bidding war on some of them... but again... if there are 2 that want them, then you are in the money....

We were joking about the deer, ma'am.

 

[SBMF 2015]

All natural cattle here do bring as much or more of a premium... even the more "common looking calves"... there are 2 buyers that will get into a bit of a bidding war on some of them... but again... if there are 2 that want them, then you are in the money....

It's great if both buyers are there, but if one is gone for some reason then only one buyer is there and you'll take it on the chin.

 

[farmerjan]

The all naturals will bring what the normal weaned ones do if they are weaned... or maybe just a little less....$.10-.15... if they are in groups .... singles get hurt regardless..... unless they are just eye candy perfect....