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Cross-7

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
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Location
SW OK
Steers 718# @ 1.30
Heifers 655# @ 1.23
I took a beating on some lighter heifers but that was my fault for not holding them longer.

They were some of the last to sale that day and feel like they should have done better.

Any marketing strategy on small numbers( less than a potloads) other than direct marketing?
 
I always try and sell at a prevac sale and wean for a minimum of 45 days. This year I worked with my local Purina dealer and conducted one of their feed trials. The Purina representative will come to the sale and talk about the calves. He does this quite a bit at a couple of other barns and has developed some good relationships that I hope net me a few more dollars. I also am able to have lunch weekly at the sale and stay for an hour or so. This has allowed the owners and buyers to know me and my cattle.
 
Where did you sell them. Barns I'm familiar with try to sell in the order they are consigned. Even if can't deliver them until sale day many will pull lower numbered tags and sell them earlier in the sale if you call them a few days before sale day and tell them you're bringing calves and want them to sell earlier.

If you don't know barn owner, suggest going by on a non sale day and visit with him. See what he suggests to help your calves sell better. A good relationship with owner should pay off over the years.
 
Texas PaPaw":2steay4a said:
Where did you sell them. Barns I'm familiar with try to sell in the order they are consigned. Even if can't deliver them until sale day many will pull lower numbered tags and sell them earlier in the sale if you call them a few days before sale day and tell them you're bringing calves and want them to sell earlier.

If you don't know barn owner, suggest going by on a non sale day and visit with him. See what he suggests to help your calves sell better. A good relationship with owner should pay off over the years.

I'll shoot you a text.
I don't want to run down the barn or the owner.
Somebody has to sell calves at the end of the sale and I guess I was one of them.
Just not enough buyers left at the end.

I need to do a better job making my calves more valuable.
 
I haven't found that weaning and holding them netted me any results.. did it once.. Between the extra food you feed them, vaccine cost, handling, shrink they take some time to make up, plus any risks on health issues, nah.

I do have a good relationship with my sale barn people, I always go and say hi to the handlers, I text the auctioneer once in a while with updates on my calves, when they'll come to the sale, etc.. My calves usually go through around 1-2PM when there are lots of bums in the seats to bid. I had them go through first and last, and NEVER AGAIN!.. you can lose $10/cwt pretty easily.
If I can, I like talking to the buyers as well, but they're usually busy.
 
Over here I think it is the drug companies trying to sell there vaccines that are beating up the media hype with preweaning and vaccinations.

Ken
 
Here we have some CPH-45 sales. The calves have to be weaned a minimum of 45 days, and have 2 rounds of required vaccinations and wormed. The record keeping with all of the details they want is a pain, but I feel it does give a little better market option. The calves are comingled with other consignors calves according to size, color. That way my varied size calves can sell in groups of 20-50 or more, instead of 1 and 2 at a time.
 
I have found that a $20 bill in the hands of the guy out back who is running them through can move them up in sale order.
 
Dave":njnfa8ak said:
I have found that a $20 bill in the hands of the guy out back who is running them through can move them up in sale order.


I do that at work a lot to get my orders out but never thought about that at the sale barn.
Good idea
 
Cross, are they vaccinated, weaned, etc? A lot of Sale Barns will market them for you if you provide all the info prior to the sale. And word of mouth always helps, as does actually hanging out at the Sale Barn; if they know you and know you have good, quality calves they'll treat you right.
 
TCRanch":14pb6l68 said:
Cross, are they vaccinated, weaned, etc? A lot of Sale Barns will market them for you if you provide all the info prior to the sale. And word of mouth always helps, as does actually hanging out at the Sale Barn; if they know you and know you have good, quality calves they'll treat you right.

Honest truth
Vaccinated for clostridial but nothing for respiratory, unweaned, but the big calves were all eating well and not nursing.
A lot of it was my own fault.
Chose a sale barn for convenience instead of a proven barn.
Especially the light heifers I took a beating on.
I should have brought them back home.

Bigger calves were worth more than I got, should have PO'd them.
They were nice calves, not a single dink in the bunch and I'm sure they sold in OKC Monday for .20 a pound more than I sold for.
I take responsibility for it. My screw up.
As of today I'm working on getting a weaning area.
I've decided to carry them through winter on graze out wheat and sell in the spring.
I may have to get my numbers up although I'm comfortable where I'm at, either that or take my lumps or quit all together.
But I'll dang sure not take a another screwing.

I sat right there and watched 3-4 buyers buy cattle in an empty sale barn.
One chastised another for out bidding him on a set of calves.
Next group he bid and said to the other
" you bought the last set and your want these too "
After that they never bid against one another.
Opening bid bought the cattle.
I sat there and never said a word.

I'm a very calm and cool guy, but I should have called BS and didn't.

My fault
I own it

Edit to add
They don't tag cattle there.
I couldn't figure why they would take a chance on a gate coming open and mixing cattle causing a cluster.
Then I remembered the owner of the barn and the OKC sale on monday.
 
If you're going to setup to wean your calves would suggest setting up for fence line weaning. Have had little sickness with fenceline weaning. Think it will be money well spent.
 
Texas PaPaw":1sg0l9hb said:
If you're going to setup to wean your calves would suggest setting up for fence line weaning. Have had little sickness with fenceline weaning. Think it will be money well spent.

That's sort of the plan.
Then putting them on wheat.

I'm not producing enough to really do it right, but really not interested in getting any bigger.
But that may be the only solution, that or quit.
 
Cross-7":23zb1kog said:
Texas PaPaw":23zb1kog said:
If you're going to setup to wean your calves would suggest setting up for fence line weaning. Have had little sickness with fenceline weaning. Think it will be money well spent.

That's sort of the plan.
Then putting them on wheat.

I'm not producing enough to really do it right, but really not interested in getting any bigger.
But that may be the only solution, that or quit.

That's the 2nd time you said this Cross. How big do you have to be? Are you thinking potloads? What is your sweet spot for economy of scale?
 
bball":1bqeoy07 said:
Cross-7":1bqeoy07 said:
Texas PaPaw":1bqeoy07 said:
If you're going to setup to wean your calves would suggest setting up for fence line weaning. Have had little sickness with fenceline weaning. Think it will be money well spent.

That's sort of the plan.
Then putting them on wheat.

I'm not producing enough to really do it right, but really not interested in getting any bigger.
But that may be the only solution, that or quit.

That's the 2nd time you said this Cross. How big do you have to be? Are you thinking potloads? What is your sweet spot for economy of scale?


I think in order to do it right you really need to deal in potloads.
Problem is heifers and steers in a mixed load doesn't do well.
Potload of steers and a separate load of heifers would be ideal.
Then then you have the marketing ability to choose your price or no sale.
You can put them in a yard to finish or retain ownership.
Problem with that is at this point we aren't talking a hobby operation and bigger than I am interested in with a full time job or comfortable with the financial risk.

Probably requires someone with greater mental capacity and ambition than I have to be successful at it.
 
It is not pot load or bust.
Bigger groups do real well in this area. Call it a > 20 head trailer load. :hat:
The groups that get hammered are 3 to 8 head per.
You may need to think about how you can make producing a trailer load work to your advantage, and more than offset the marketing discount.
 
Stocker Steve":3bl8lell said:
It is not pot load or bust.
Bigger groups do real well in this area. Call it a > 20 head trailer load. :hat:
The groups that get hammered are 3 to 8 head per.
You may need to think about how you can make producing a trailer load work to your advantage, and more than offset the marketing discount.

Same sex groups or mixed load of similar sized greater than 20? I imagine it might be similar here. Exactly what you said is true here..8 or 12 in a load here gets punished!
 

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