Our experience selling at stockyards...

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

OK, so most of our stock is sold privately or at state breed sales. Every once in awhile we take something to the stockyards (like, once a year!). Earlier this year, we took a freemartin heifer and felt like we got bottom dollar for her. We sent her records with her as far as vaccinations and such, and still got lower than most. So, we had one extra steer I needed to get rid of before winter. I tried selling him on Craigslist or trading him for hay, but got no serious bites. So I took him to Joplin stockyard, WITH all of his weaning and vaccinating records. They advised not to commingle, since he had been weaned for 30 days and was on feed. OK, so sell him as a single. I checked the website to see how the prices were on Monday, and felt good about the bottom end bringing $1.45. I figured I would get at least that much. Well, imagine my surprise when my 510 pound steer (which was about 50 pounds less than what I had him at) went for $1.10! I was ticked off to say the least. So I called today, and after several minutes on hold to a very nice man, I was informed that when he came into the ring he was lame and could not walk well, so the auctioneer set his floor and took the first bidder. They guy I talked on the phone to called the bidder, and the bidder said that calf, other than the lameness, was every bit of a healthy good flesh calf. So the stockyard is going to pay the difference is what he brought and the bottom for that day ($1.35). So I feel a little better. But what if I did not call and ask why he brought so little? Anyone else ever have this happen? I am glad I called, and will use them again knowing they will work with you, but the best they could figure is he got bumped around and hurt there somehow because he walked off the trailer as sound as a cat!

 

[cow pollinater]

He's yours until they say "sold". Get used to it. I also know that new situations bring out the worst in ALL cattle. My nice quiet cattle turn into fire breathing dragons when they come off the ranch and it takes a while to settle them back down. I have a hunch that he lamed himself up in a stressfull situation and if I'm right it should be YOUR loss.
Here they go through the ring in whatever condition they're in when they get there and if you don't like what you get you're free to take them somewhere else next time.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I guess the stockyard carries insurance for that reason. I was not angry nor did I have attitude on the phone with the rep, I just wanted to know why this calf went so low, and how to get better prices in the future - which he talked with me on the phone for 20 minutes giving me tips and putting me in contact with a rep that will help us next time (they have reps that are assigned to people to help market the calves, I did not know that). I never asked for more money, he is the one that said they were going to pay the difference because he was sound when he arrived, and that is why they have insurance. If there is a problem with lameness when they walk off the trailer to the pens, they note it on your loading paperwork. So they did not even question that the steer was sound and healthy when he arrived. Also, this steer walked off the trailer in a nice slow gate, and walked calmly into his holding pen, but he is a halter broke steer that has been around kids and dogs since his birth.
So are you saying that if I take an animal there and it dies, that it is my loss? Remind me not to go to your auction and leave a calf. Fortunately, the stockyards around us (Joplin and Springfield) treat their sellers and buyers better than that!

 

[backhoeboogie]

The sale barn is a way of life for me. Sometimes I get way more than expected and some times a bit less. I have picked up good buys there and have made a couple of mistakes too. You simply take the mistakes back. But when you buy you buy with caution.

I sold in 11 of the 12 months of 2011. One week was a bad experience.

There is one barn I will not sell at.

Anyone getting in the cattle business should sit through a dozen sale barns just for the feel of things and the experience. For prices to go up, two people have to be interested and bidding.

Many times I have gone with the intention of buying and drug home an empty trailer. When I have to put calves on the nurse cow, there is not a lot of choice at times. You have to pick up calves or else milk the cow. I want beef calves and sometimes there are people there buying them for bottle pets and they buy a lot. It runs the price up. Other times they quit splitting because there are not enough bidders.

 

[Caustic Burno]

It happen's from good to bad with that said the salebarn is our lifeblood selling the worthless cull putting frog hides in pocket to the show calf goes through the ring. That same calf that got banged around in the barn can have the same thing happen in the pasture.

 

[Runaway Deere]

I am sure the auction just wrote you a check for the difference, no insurance used. We run our own business and when there is a legit customer problem, 99 times out of a 100 we just pay. If we used our insurance all the time we just just wind up paying more in premiums than if we just paid out of pocket.... Its been like that Niall our businesses forever, but this is just our experience. Our local auction moves 2000 head on Tuesday's just beef, not including butchers, and dairy, so we too feel like small fish in the ocean. With that said it helps to have our reps or friends. We would be broke if we had no auction yard. The yard is an integral piece of the puzzle in our part of the country. It does sound like the yard still wants your business otherwise they woulda told you to pound salt. We always want to use businesses that stand tall, instead of goin to a new place and taking another chance. Hope all goes well..

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Good for you that they are giving you anything it really kinda suprised me that they are.I don't know about the this one and the lameness but i allways say that what ever a buyer pays the day you sell is what they are worth no matter what they bring.

 

[chippie]

That is why I wait and watch my stock sell.

 

[J&D Cattle]

FSR, I'm glad you called in and they were nice enough to at least put a little more money in your pocket.

I had a good one happen to me on Monday. I brought in a few 550lb heifers to sell. When I picked up my check 1 calf was listed at 730lbs and brought a fancy price. I went back in and told them of the mistake but with no way to find the price of my actual calf they told me to go ahead and cash the check. I left my name & number but haven't heard back from them yet.

 

[Bigfoot]

I am either buying or selling at the stock yard 40 plus weeks a year. Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. I know you had extinuating circumstances where you couldn't be there when it sold, but its best to bring a trailer full, and wait for them to be graded before you leave.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I've sold some 'private treaty' , I've sold some as "beef" (halfs, live, to be packaged in plastic wrap) and most I sell at the sale-barn. Most times what I get for mine is what the averages are. Some have "rung the bell" (as Caustic would say). I brought one load, one time, where they all brought crappy prices----I looked into it (checked what the prices had been for that sale) and that day everyone was getting crappy prices not just me.

So, suffice it to say, no I have not had the experience that you have had. But I'm happy for you that they were willing to pony-up the extra $$.

There are 3 places where I can sell within a reasonable amount of disatnce from me. 1 I will never sell at. The other 2 I have used depending on my schedule. One of those sells on Sat. the other takes them on Mon and Tues and sells on Tues.

Katherine

 

[highgrit]

I guess I'am a little leary, but something sounds fishy to me. Why would he call the buyer and find out what he paid and then pay you more?? Just makes no sense to me. I guess we should all call and question what we got paid. It's not like your a good customer and he needs your 1-2 calves a year. The bottom line is you need to watch your stock sell.

 

[SANDTRAP]

I guess I'am a little leary, but something sounds fishy to me. Why would he call the buyer and find out what he paid and then pay you more?? Just makes no sense to me. I guess we should all call and question what we got paid. It's not like your a good customer and he needs your 1-2 calves a year. The bottom line is you need to watch your stock sell.

He didn't call and ask what he paid for him. He sold him so he knew what he sold him for.
If a women called and kept me on the phone for 20 minutes complaining about how her show calf sold.
I too would have paid her whatever she wanted to just made her happy.

 

[Limomike]

That is why I wait and watch my stock sell.

Exactly chippie. I do the same, because if you are there, you know how the bidding went, what they set them in at, and can take care of any problems that arise at that point.
I had a 700lb steer sell a few weeks ago, that when it came into the ring, the bidding went pretty high, but at the end, someone said he looked lame, and they ran him back through and he sold for about $150 less than the first time! I went to the stockyard owner, told him that I brought that steer in healthy just like the other 12 I had that day. He made up the difference and paid me what it sold for first time through.
I just think its important to be there to see what goes on every single time.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Lol if you're gonna sit one out, make sure you don't take them to the big barns. You could be there 14 hours.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I guess I'am a little leary, but something sounds fishy to me. Why would he call the buyer and find out what he paid and then pay you more?? Just makes no sense to me. I guess we should all call and question what we got paid. It's not like your a good customer and he needs your 1-2 calves a year. The bottom line is you need to watch your stock sell.

He didn't call and ask what he paid for him. He sold him so he knew what he sold him for.
If a women called and kept me on the phone for 20 minutes complaining about how her show calf sold.
I too would have paid her whatever she wanted to just made her happy.

Now this is just rude! Your an idiot for flying off the handle and making that kind of statement. Maybe they do things different out here in Missouri (for the better, obviously!) but as I stated earlier I DID NOT COMPLAIN! I just wanted to know why the calf was .35 cents lower than everything else (over 4000 head) that sold that day and how to improve my odds when I brought more cattle (since the calf I sold earlier in the year was on the low side of prices also). I have a job, so there was no way to stay and watch the calf sell when they are selling over 4000 in a day and I have no clue when my calf was selling. Joplin is a huge stockyard, and they sell thousands of cattle in a day. They know their business, and that is to get the best price for cattle. Out here, people are courteous to others and will spend hours just talking about cattle. This nice guy even went into great detail about making sure my calves were not overly fat next time because the buyers shy away from that, and was just trying to give good solid advice for us.
Oh, and the buyer was THERE that day, buying more cattle. So he called him over the MIC to get him to come to the office, and I could hear the conversation in the room while I was on the phone on the other end. He asked him if he remembered WHY the calf was priced at the bottom, not how much he paid. Anyone who knows anything about big stockyards know there is buyers there buying all the time for different clients!
So just go climb back into your hole and complain about something else; it is not wanted in this thread!

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

You know, the more I thought about this, the more irritated I got. I did not start this thread to have someone start bashing me on how much one of my calf's brought at the stockyards, but to gather information on normal procedures for selling stock that way. I was not asking for anything monetary, I just wanted to know how I can get my fair share of the price. When everything else that day in that weight range is selling for $1.56-$1.73 (http://www.joplinstockyards.com/monday_ ... p?section=) with the average being $1.61 and I see on my paperwork $1.10, I want to know why. Is there something wrong with that? As a seller I have a right to know why my product was so severely discounted, and how I can prevent it in the future or sell somewhere else. That one calf sale left over $100 on the table, and multiply that times 10 or 100 head, that is a lot of money to leave behind. This was not a show calf, thus the reason for heading for the stockyards. I did not have any unrealistic goals, I just wanted a fair market price for my calf. When I did not get it, I wanted to know WHY and HOW, in the future, I can change that. Small fish get less, that is a given. But not that much less!
It just really bothers me when someone who has no clue who I am or what my cattle represent, other than seed stock cattle, get out here and say I was whining on the phone.

 

[Alan]

Welcome to the internet and welcome to CT. For both you need to have a thick skin. As for the sale of your calf, as many have already said, when you sell at a sale barn/stockyard you roll the dice. In my area they dock the price for hide color, like red, they dock for horns, the dock dairy steers, they dock on gender, steers bring more $$, they dock on weight, lighter weights bring higher $$. A couple of weeks ago I took seven weaned Polled Hereford calves to the sale barn, mostly 500 to 600 lbs, they brought equal to high dollar that day, I was dancing in the parking lot. So the very next week I took a cull cow, P Hereford, and a horned Hereford steer 800 lbs. I wasn't so happy, I knew I would take a hit on an old cow, but it was more than expected, the steer did okay but still took a couple of hits. Overall the prices were much, much lower than just a week before. That's just the nature of the game. If you want what you consider the value of your cattle to be you probably should sell them private treaty.

Stuff happens at the sale yard, animals get hurt, animals get bred, animals go unsold and your still stuck with the charges. I have to say I have never seen cattle go unsold but I have seen them go off the per pound price and sell for the dollar ...... Ouch!

 

[highgrit]

Probably just sold for what it was worth. I buy and sell at the stockyard quite often, and I would be all over something selling below market value. That's just good business on the buyers side. But for the stockyard to just give you more money than what your calf brought just makes no sense.

 

[salebarn junkie]

Ive sold in most of the barns east of joplin if you get to know the reps or owners or even the guys unloading you can get a spot or time reserved, the time the animale sells effects price in the bigger sales. 50lbs shrink on a 5 weight animale is common. Good luck next time.