Marketing Bulls

[AussieLim]

Just thought I'd throw this topic up for the bull breeders out there...

Aside from time & reputation, what is the most effective way to market your bulls/bull sale?

Do people's prefer 'Private Treaty' or 'Auction'??

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Just thought I'd throw this topic up for the bull breeders out there...

Aside from time & reputation, what is the most effective way to market your bulls/bull sale?

Do people's prefer 'Private Treaty' or 'Auction'??

not a breeder just a customer...but private treaty for me

 

[u4411clb]

I have found that I get better prices at Auction than I do private treaty. I prefer the time to walk through and hear the total background of bulls from the owners especially if they have had the dam and her parents and so on for a while but I have found that most people seem to over value there bulls as far as how much they will bring through the ring. So I buy at Auction mostly unless I personally know the seller.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I have found that I get better prices at Auction than I do private treaty. I prefer the time to walk through and hear the total background of bulls from the owners especially if they have had the dam and her parents and so on for a while but I have found that most people seem to over value there bulls as far as how much they will bring through the ring. So I buy at Auction mostly unless I personally know the seller.

well your the first... i get the background, and the option to see the parents private treaty.. which is important to me as any number you can throw out there

 

[u4411clb]

Now adays when people use AI on commercial cattle to sell at sale barn the only chance you are looking at the sire of a bull you are buying on site is if that cow happens to get bred by the cleanup bull. If a person has the time and the patience the key being some patience and if that person is looking for a popular breed of bull mainly Angus or Hereford or Brangus in my area he can shop the Auctions and come up with a good bull for good money. And if not at least he would know exactly what the private treaty guys bull is really worth after seeing things similar running through the ring.

 

[SPH]

We have had great luck selling yearling bulls private treaty. A few things to consider when you put them on a sale auction are all the costs you have with travel and possible hotel and meal accomodations, promotion items, and commission and possible entry fee you may have to pay to put something on a state expo sale. Private treaty you dictate the price and limit the expenses. As far as the exposure and added name recognition the auction sales are a great promotional opportunity, especially if your animal brings a good price so depending on your priorities and goals you have to weigh the costs and benefits for which route you want to go. We pay attention to auction prices so we usually adjust our prices based on what simlilar is selling for on auction.

If you are selling private treaty, if you have not tried posting free ads to Craigslist yet I highly recommend you give it a try because we have got a ton of exposure to potential customers that way compared to placing paid ads in publications such as Farm Bureau and Midwest Marketer. We sometimes get calls from breeders several states away and we've even sold a few animals to some people willing to make the several hour drive to your farm or at least meet you part way on delivery.

 

[Jessica06]

For the smaller breeder, I think private treaty is definitely the way to go. Especially since it is so easy these days to get exposure to a LOT of buyers on the internet for nothing, or next to nothing. We put our first bull to ever sell in a local sale this spring. We knew we would probably take a hit on him, and we did, but it was worth it to us to get our name out there locally. We had about 25 business cards on his stall, and by the time he sold there were only about 3 left. That 10% commission sure takes a chunk out of your profit though.

Craigslist is very good, but we got a LOT of tirekickers. That's just something you have to be prepared for posting on a place like that. We have had VERY good success on Cattlerange.com. Most of the people on there are REAL cattle people, and I would say more serious buyers when they contact you.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

friend of mine put a Consensus son in the sale this spring,that brought 5k... but he had him topped out like a hog.. at 15 months he nearly dwarfed mine... dont know how much feed he poured to them but no way he made money

 

[SPH]

Craigslist is very good, but we got a LOT of tirekickers. That's just something you have to be prepared for posting on a place like that. We have had VERY good success on Cattlerange.com. Most of the people on there are REAL cattle people, and I would say more serious buyers when they contact you.

That is true but I would rather get "tirekickers" than no calls because you never know if one of those calls might turn into a sale. There are guys that will call around just to get an idea on what prices people are asking for but you'll have people look at your animal at an auction sale too and may not even bid so kind of the same thing. We've had so much success with craigslist we've gained some repeat bull buyers from some of the sales we've made. We've sold everything from bottle calves, yearling heifers, bulls, and have even sold a few bred females that we normally would have taken to the sale barn when we need to cull some to get our herd numbers down.

 

[wbvs58]

AussieLim,the Rural Press Beef Week is a great marketing tool. I think it costs $550 to participate and you get value for money in advertising and get people coming to your place. You just have to put on a cuppa tea and bickies. I just went down to the New England area of NSW, most use it to showcase the bulls for upcoming sale but some have bulls for sale on day. Last place I went to had sold over 40 yearling bulls on the day, they were cheap but good quality, they were straight out of the paddock so no expensive preparation.
I should imagine the rural paper in your state would have a similar promotion.
I have not participated but am certainly considering it as a tool to sell yearling bulls in future years.
Ken

 

[AussieLim]

Thank you everyone!

We see the huge benefits to the clients in a Private Treaty selling system and have been selling that way since 2010. We have also commenced the Treaty with our on property Field day as a part of the SA Beef Field days similar to WBVS's Beef Week.
The part that frustrates me is the drawn out sales & we are leaning towards having an Auction. It is also a perception here in SA that if you Private sell your not the real deal and more of a 'hobby breeder' We don't fit this discription so want to steer away from that style of selling.
It's going to take a lot of work & cost to commence with an inaugural auction but it should be worth it in the long run.
Thank you for all your input!

 

[gizmom]

We market bulls both at sales and private treaty. We send bulls to the Alabama BCIA Fall Roundup sale each November. We have participated in this sale for 8 or 10 years I can't remember exactly. I like this sale the buyers are commercial cattlemen that are knowledgable and if you pay attention they will teach you a bunch, we have learned a lot by being involved in this sale. We also started sending bulls to the Florida Bull test we did many years ago but stopped (cost) but started back two years ago. This test provides us excellent information not only on our bulls but how they stack up against other breeders. The majority of our bulls are sold private treaty, the most difficult thing to do is price them. We think we have finally come up with a fair way to price, and that is to get the average price of bulls sold (during that calendar years) BCIA sales. That way we aren't pricing the high end or the low end but the average. I think before we came up with this pricing format we had them to high, now I think we are where we need to be for us and the customer.

Gizmom
http://www.gizmoangus.com

 

[AussieLim]

We get them appraised & priced by an independent. We do it this way to be fair & an independent doesn't have any bias towards cow family line etc. Our bulls are generally priced into 3 groups with a $500-$1000 rise between groups dependent on quality.

 

[wbvs58]

AussieLim, I have noticed on the East coast here that a lot of inaugaral bull sales take a fair hit price wise, very low averages and low clearance rates. Many of these are well advertised and the vendors have invested in topline genetics as well. On the other hand you have to throw your hat in the ring at some time and make a start at promoting your own sale. I think having the bulls assessed by a well known assessor helps a lot as they tend to put the word out to their clients to turn up.
I am unashamedly a hobby breeder and have started selling at a very good multivendor sale we have around this way, this will be my second year selling. We have a sale average comparable to many on property sales and a good clientel. I would say that most of the vendors would be more than just hobby breeders and everyone works well together to promote the sale. It is a good compromise for those thinking of going out on their own.
Ken

 

[Hang'n A Cattle Co]

For years we sold private treaty off the ranch and it seemed to be a year round venture- and for every month a bull stood around it cost us money (and they would fight and get crippled) In 1998 we had the opportunity to enter a few of our yearling bulls in a neighbor's well established bull sale. After a couple years the neighbor sold their herd and we picked up their sale date and continued the sale (there is a lot of competition for sale dates in our area) We expanded our numbers, invited two well know Angus breeders to join us (we raise Charolais) and now host the two breed sale. Our group sells 120-130 spring yearlings bulls at the sale, with a few fall bulls thrown in. We sell in late February and averaged just under $4,000 the last two years.
One thing we all agreed too was that no one sold anything off the ranch before the sale- it's ok to send a few bulls out to bull tests (Midland, Treasure test in MT) as long as the sale falls AFTER our sale date. We didn't want our sale to have the reputation for offering leftovers.

 

[AussieLim]

Really like your thoughts Hang'n. I am currently attempting to put together a joint Angus & Black Limo sale with an Angus breeder. If he agrees to the proposal I think it will have big prospects. Going on our own will be harder as less numbers & a full hit of costs.