Is this a bad time to sell??

[EIEIO]

I've got 5 steers and a 8 yo. bull that need to head for the sale barn. I had planned on going this morning but due to rain last night and more in the forecast today I really did not feel like moving, seperating, loading, and hauling cattle this morning.

There is another sale tomorrow but at a place that won't bring me as good a money as the one today would have because it's a smaller auction with fewer buyers. With next weekend being Christmas I was wondering if there may be any negative impact on a sale on next Wednesday. Last week we had a major cold front come through that brought a bit of snow and prices were off as was demand on sale day.

I really don't want to wait till after the first of the year to head for the sale barn as it's time for these to go and hay is in short supply around here but I also don't want to get low prices on my cattle either and was wondering about anyones experience selling this time of year. I know prices are still strong but did not know how the demand would be out here in the boonies.

The Wednesday sale I had talked about is the largest we have in the area and tomorrow's is a much smaller one.

Any opinons or advise would be appreciated.

J

 

[la4angus]

I've got 5 steers and a 8 yo. bull that need to head for the sale barn. I had planned on going this morning but due to rain last night and more in the forecast today I really did not feel like moving, seperating, loading, and hauling cattle this morning.[/quote]They need to go but you don't feel like doing what it takes to go.

There is another sale tomorrow but at a place that won't bring me as good a money as the one today would have because it's a smaller auction with fewer buyers. With next weekend being Christmas I was wondering if there may be any negative impact on a sale on next Wednesday. Last week we had a major cold front come through that brought a bit of snow and prices were off as was demand on sale day.

There is another sale but the prices aren't as good. Then christmas is coming. There normally isn't a sale between the week before Christmas and New Years. so you take your cattle this week, take your beating and run. Next year plan better.

I really don't want to wait till after the first of the year to head for the sale barn as it's time for these to go and hay is in short supply around here but I also don't want to get low prices on my cattle either

If you don't want to wait until after the first of the year to go to the sale barn because you are running low on hay and you don't want to get low prices, you go this week. Who knows what they will bring. I only have 2 balls and neither of them are crystal.

The Wednesday sale I had talked about is the largest we have in the area and tomorrow's is a much smaller one.

Any opinons or advise would be appreciated.

If you miss todays sale, go tomorrow

 

[mhoback]

Do you want to pay taxes on them this year or next year?

 

[BC]

You might want to check if they are going to have a sale next week.. Many of calf buyers will be pulling out of market after this weekend as they do not want to get partial loads before closing for the Christmas holidays.

 

[EIEIO]

I went ahead and sold at the smaller auction that I thought was on a Thursday but it was actually yesterday(Friday). Got my check in the mail today and did as good as I would have had I taken them to the larger sale barn. I had only taken a load once to the one I went to this week and did not like the prices I got but I was happy with what my calves brought yesterday, it's also about 30 miles closer to home than the larger one.

One problem I noticed on my check is they had one of my 2 all black cows (one a steer and the other a heifer) both listed as heifers, guess I'll call them and find out what went wrong. Don't have a clue as to what they will do about it though.

The only hitch yesterday was my bull refused to go into the loading area. Spent a dang hour trying to get him in but it was a no go. He had his nose up in the air and I think was smelling some replacement heifers that were pastured west of him, glad none of them came up to the fence. He's been shy of the loading area since last summer and I had to treat him for pink eye.

la4angus, I really was not being lazy by not taking the calves in on the day I wanted them in and to the sale barn I wanted to take them too. I had also planned well I thought but did not count on either mother nature (snowed the previous week) and Wednesday I had 3 kids at home in various stages of the stomach flu and an absent wife!

Thanks all,

J