Herd dispersals

[alexfarms]

I have been looking through some of the cattle magazines and seems like a lot of dispersals....I am mostly looking at Herefords. Maybe it is just the season, but some pretty nice outfits seem to be dispersing. How are these sales going? I read a few posts on the Remitall sale and it sounded like it had some weak spots....could have been boarder issues, I am sure. Remitall, Lagrand, Deshazer, Detweiller...they all looked to me like they were sitting pretty good. I also just picked up the Hereford world and read Roy Darnell's obituary. Cheer me up!

 

[HerefordSire]

I have been looking through some of the cattle magazines and seems like a lot of dispersals....I am mostly looking at Herefords. Maybe it is just the season, but some pretty nice outfits seem to be dispersing. How are these sales going? I read a few posts on the Remitall sale and it sounded like it had some weak spots....could have been boarder issues, I am sure. Remitall, Lagrand, Deshazer, Detweiller...they all looked to me like they were sitting pretty good. I also just picked up the Hereford world and read Roy Darnell's obituary. Cheer me up!

I don't know if I can cheer you up as I have the same questions.

Agriculture land is very high now relatively speaking. Now may be the time to dump the land. Grass is very high due to the irregular climate patterns. Grain prices are causing the calf and cull markets upside down. We are in a credit crisis. Major financial institutions are holding mortgage paper at very low prices because the demand is not there (they are stuck). They really can't dump the paper. Who will buy the paper? China? Heck, China just dumped a wad of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae equities the other day. The cash flow they projected to be there is not there because of foreclosures. Now let's think about this....if you were 60-65 years old and your father remembered the depression in 1929, and you started getting scared, what would you do? EASY....HERD MENTALITY....AS SOON AS ONE JUMPS SHIP, MANY MORE FOLLOW and the last ones remaining get to divi up the gold.

 

[alexfarms]

Two words come to mind: OPPORTUNITY and RISK. Fortunes are made when one "buys cheap and sells high". In the '80s farm crisis it was easier to borrow money to buy land at $2000/acre in 1981 than it was to borrow money to buy similar land at $500/acre in 1984. Those were challenging times...I made it through them because I was single, younger and I had nothing to lose. I thought I would never see it happen again. Cash was king in the mid '80s and that may be where we are headed again. Personnally, I am much better off today than I was then, but I have more to lose and more people depending on me now. Everyone should be searching for a way to turn this in their favor.

 

[angus9259]

Personally, I'm buying - and not just at dispersals. There have been some great cattle going at near cull prices. Just got 4 head in this week and they are beauties. But . . . I could be wrong!!

 

[herefordchick]

I don't know about all of them but I do know the two dispersals in Ohio have NOTHING to do with the status of the breed.

The Banks are retaining the yearling females - not a complete dispersal. Most of it has to do with other time commitments mainly dealing with aging parents requiring more and more time. I am sure the drought conditions year after year makes it that much easier to cut back on the herd size. Haven't seen these cows recently but they have gotten great reviews from what I have been hearing. I do know their reputation as honest performance breeders speaks for itself in these parts.

The JJD herd, well JJD has numerous other financial endeavors. I am willing to bet the effect of the economy is stressing some of those way more than the cattle are. I toured the herd this summer and all I can say is WOW. Present management has taken care of them well but they also have been culling very very diligently. Management has very much been in a mode of building and looking toward the future with a lot of respect for the breed integrity on the way there. This will be a huge opportunity.

I will be attending both - might as well make a weekend of it - two dispersals that close should spell opportunity to anyone interested in the breed. My best guess it that there will be some bargains at both. I suspect just like we saw last weekend some top lots will sell really really really well. Overall they should both be strong sales but with that many selling and the number of people in the region hurting for rain and hay, there will be plenty of bargains in the middle end. Knowing and having dealt with both of these breeders - the very bottom end will still be some very good sound functional cattle. You might find a pedigree or number that doesn't strike your fancy but you will not find any salebarn stock at either sale.

I wish I had HerefordSires resources. There's quite a few on my wish list going on the auction block next weekend. Not good timing for me I will mainly be going to view and learn................but ya never know if the rest of the buyers are sleepin in the stands I want to make sure I am not.

 

[redfornow]

I wish I had HerefordSires resources.

HS wishes the same thing! :nod:

 

[SRBeef]

There are probably various reasons for the sales. However I believe most reasons basically come down to general beef industry economic issues, not breed issues.

Cattle prices in the usual marketing channels are just not as profitable for the producer as some other endeavors/land uses and there is little sign those economics will change in the near future in traditional beef markets.

Other than as a hobby, why tie up a lot of capital in cattle if that capital can get a better return in other businesses such as row crops? Add to that many family/aging issues and dispersal really is a logical thing to do for many operations. Rather than buying/raising $5-6.00 corn to feed to cattle who will lose money, why not sell the corn? Same/similar thing with soybeans and wheat. Depends on the area.

I think there is little or no "breed" issue in most dispersal sales. jmho,

 

[Brandonm22]

And the word "dispersal" on the catalog generally means more people will attend your sale. IF you spent 3 or 4 years flushing embryos you can be back up and running 18 months after your "whole herd dispersal" and with the genetics you cherry picked out of all your years of experience with the cows. A dispersal is also a profitable way too unload matings and lines that haven't quite lived up to expectations. Some of these ranches will be back up and running sooner than anyone expects.

 

[dun]

And the word "dispersal" on the catalog generally means more people will attend your sale. IF you spent 3 or 4 years flushing embryos you can be back up and running 18 months after your "whole herd dispersal" and with the genetics you cherry picked out of all your years of experience with the cows. A dispersal is also a profitable way too unload matings and lines that haven't quite lived up to expectations. Some of these ranches will be back up and running sooner than anyone expects.

Kind of like the "Going out of business" sales that some business have for 5-10 years. Big sign in the window and prices that have been reduced 1/2 of a percent below their usual rediculesly high prices.

 

[iowahawkeyes]

I think LaGrand got talked into Herefords by Steve Patton. Since Steve left their sale average took a nose dive. He knew a lot of people and that got their name in the limelight. It'll be interesting sale.

 

[BA]

There is a lot of them in all breeds this fall.

Red Angus has a lot of Canadian Dispersals plus Messmer, Lonker, Brandee, Stevenson Reds

Dieters in the composites

Snake Creek, Assman and many more in the Blacks. Makes a person wonder.

 

[Weaver]

I seen that Deiters was having their dispersal in October and thought about going. Anyone have any of their cattle or know much about their operation?

 

[Ned Jr.]

I also just picked up the Hereford world and read Roy Darnell's obituary.

I hadn't received my September Hereford World yet to read that. That's to bad but then again it's also a blessing. I'd heard Roy had been in bad shape for quite awhile. He gave me a tour of his place and cow herd a few years back. He was a nice man and a great Hereford breeder.

Welcome to the Cattle Today board John. Great to have another Hereford breeder join in.

 

[HerefordSire]

Two words come to mind: OPPORTUNITY and RISK. Fortunes are made when one "buys cheap and sells high". In the '80s farm crisis it was easier to borrow money to buy land at $2000/acre in 1981 than it was to borrow money to buy similar land at $500/acre in 1984. Those were challenging times...I made it through them because I was single, younger and I had nothing to lose. I thought I would never see it happen again. Cash was king in the mid '80s and that may be where we are headed again. Personnally, I am much better off today than I was then, but I have more to lose and more people depending on me now. Everyone should be searching for a way to turn this in their favor.

An older gentleman I spoke with a very long time ago told me this:

Most, if not all, of the profit of any product or object, is on the buy side and not the sell side.

Wal-Mart is a good example. Our company does business with Wal-Mart as a supplier. They control suppliers. Thereofre, we place extra consideration on diversification. It is hard to get buried in product if one buys right. If you don't buy it right, why buy at all?

 

[TheBullLady]

As I know next to nothing about Hereford breeders... are any other breeders seeing "their" breed having a lot of dispersal sales? I haven't seen any Simmental breeders dispersing.. and only know of one Brahman breeder that dispersed this year. :roll:

 

[Brandonm22]

I get a lot of Angus dispersal sale catalogs. Remitall dispersed their Angus cows along with their Herefords, Bohi in Kansas is dispersing 355 lots of live cattle Monday. On the 15th and 16th, Snake Creek in Nebraska is dispersing 1068 lots. Sugar Hill Farms in Ark dispersed this past Friday. Some outfit in California is dispersing Oct 4, Snyder Brothers in Nebraska is dispersing Oct 20, KD Cattle in La dispersed back in June. I don't think it spells doom for the breed however.

 

[dun]

I don't think it spells doom for the breed however.

There was an article in the Red Angus magazine this month that it should be looked at as an opportunity. Some really great genetics will be spread around the country instead of being localized. I thought that was an interesting view on the subject

 

[DOC HARRIS]

I don't think it spells doom for the breed however.

There was an article in the Red Angus magazine this month that it should be looked at as an opportunity. Some really great genetics will be spread around the country instead of being localized. I thought that was an interesting view on the subject

This is an example of how the Elementary Principle of the Stock Market functions: when the market is UP = SELL! When the market is DOWN = BUY!

What an exciting and remarkable opportunity these "tough" times are for the less-than-very-wealthy beef cattle operator! It is a chance to acquire genetics that in "normal" times one would not have a chance in ten thousand of obtaining, and to be able to do so at a lesser cost than expected! The 3-in-One possibilities are rampant throughout the entire sales spectrum, enabling a breeder to "leap-frog" his operation YEARS ahead of what he was expecting to do!

Perhaps a few "penny-pinching" bankers should be "hit up-side the head, and have the facts of life 'splained to 'em!"

DOC HARRIS

 

[RD-Sam]

I see it as a great oppertunity myself, I am just getting started and finding some good deals to be had. One of the cows I purchased was Reserve Grand Champion in the cow/calve pair at the Kentucky Expo, and she was bred with a top sire in the breed. No way I could have afforded her a few years ago. I also bought a second cow that was bred using a top sire, she is also from top bloodlines. So here I will be with two cows and two calves if nothing goes wrong, and they will all be top bloodlines for about what you would get at market selling for beef. Not a bad deal. Not to mention I found a person willing to work with me and help me get started, they are going to breed the cows back for me after they calve. Times are good for newbies!!! :tiphat:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I would say with the high price of feed and fertilize and fuel them folks is getting out before the lose there whole a$$.