Did you go look at the cows? 900 each is really cheap for good black cows/bull/over half calved out, if they are good quality, young cows.
My experiences have told me that there are no real good deals for me if the cattle are advertised. There are many sales barns in the area that have someone looking over the ads in the local papers before those papers hit the streets. They call one of their fieldmen and he goes and buys the cattle if they are a good deal. The next guys are the individuals who buy and bust up the herds for a living. They also get the paper before regular people do. They are the second group looking over the cattle.
So, when the regular guy goes and looks at a group of cattle, the guys who do it for a living have already passed them up as not a good enough deal for them. The cattle might work for you, but it is nearly impossible to get a really good deal on advertised cattle. The exception is the specialty type cow that normal buyers dont want or too few head to be worth the time for the buyers.
Your being 125 miles away makes it difficult for me to think you will be there before the pro guys are.
I spent a few years running down the newspaper ads before I realized what a waste of time and money it was. The exception was a herd of 50 white parks crosses, but they were a specialty group and priced too high for the regular buyers.
Last Septemeber, I got an ad off the internet just minutes after it came on for 15 longhorn 3 year old second periods for 500 each. I was going to buy them over the phone, sight unseen, but someone else had gotten earlier info and called and bought them over the phone.
Hope you have better luck.
