Purebred auctions

[Anonymous]

Read the article about purebred marketing and I would say that in general I dont enjoy purebred cattle sales any more. Most of them are very slow with speeches about the grandsire or reading and comments on the epd numbers of the animal selling. I can read and judge the numbers myself. Just sell the cattle. Also I have noticed that these events have problems with catching bids and knowing where the bids are, I think because the auctioneer and ringmen don't work together every day like in a sale barn.

 

[dun]

Read the article about purebred marketing and I would say that in general I dont enjoy purebred cattle sales any more. Most of them are very slow with speeches about the grandsire or reading and comments on the epd numbers of the animal selling. I can read and judge the numbers myself. Just sell the cattle. Also I have noticed that these events have problems with catching bids and knowing where the bids are, I think because the auctioneer and ringmen don't work together every day like in a sale barn.

It's the hype and hoopla that makes a registered cattle sale what it is. It's a whole different market then a regular sale. Even weekly cow/calf sales tend to be a lot like the seedstock sales. Not a bad, but still pretty long and drawn out.
It's kind of like the difference between a high school football game and the pros. Or a regular season game and the superbowl.
You just have to have the mind set that it's going to waste a lot of time and plan on making a day of it.
As to the bid situation, as long as they're as drawn out as they are, the bids will eventually get caught up.
I think that the people that attend them about half expect the hoopla. When the bids start to slow, the auctineer will come up with another tidbit and the bids pick up again. When it slows again he'll do it again. Just the nature of the beast.
I hate the large feeder/stocker sales that the animals come through the ring so fast you can't get a good look at them and the sale runs for 10-12 hours. If I was a regualr buyer I'm sure I would eventually catch on to the technique of the quick look, but since we only do it a couple of times a year at most, I just don't have the sill.

dun

 

[Dee]

I need more time in the ring to look also. If there is something I'm interested in, I will go early and have a yard man show me the cattle I want to look at. They are usually fairly helpful, and know a little about the cattle or the person selling them. Private sales at the ranch are better for me, so I can take my time. Last heifer I bought, I had a choice of 5, and I went to the guys farm 3 days looking at them before I decided.

 

[dun]

Most registered sales are a two day deal for us. By the time we go the day beofere the sale we've sorted through the offerings and have narrowed it down to those that appear to fit our criteria. Yhen we will go and send most of a day looking at those particular animals but also looking at everthing else, just in case something really lights my fire. Early the day of the sale we've discussed the animals that have made the second cut and recheck our notes. The time at the sale up to sale time is final checking and sociolizing. Of the heifers we've bough this way, all are still here. Of those we didn't do the research on I don't remember many iof them having stayed around for many years.
The private treaty heifer we just bought I started looking at her and the others (9) that were available clear back in February. We just finally made up our minds and got her the middle of July. I must have been to that farm once a week from the time I started looking until I finally bought her.

dun

 

[Larry Sansom]

Read the article about purebred marketing and I would say that in general I dont enjoy purebred cattle sales any more. Most of them are very slow with speeches about the grandsire or reading and comments on the epd numbers of the animal selling. I can read and judge the numbers myself. Just sell the cattle. Also I have noticed that these events have problems with catching bids and knowing where the bids are, I think because the auctioneer and ringmen don't work together every day like in a sale barn.

One other comment to supplement what has already been said - as an auctioneer - I know that those times the bid seems to be lost and ringmen are not with the auctioneer - some times that happens but most of the time the auctioneer is running the bid on a buyer to dumb to know the deal, and he quits, leaving the auctioneer with a no money bid. the confusion and argument is a ploy to get back to the money bid of the guy who quit.
As to the slower pace - you might want to look at some of the "open House" type sales - where the cattle are penned in a group by price, and you have the right to up the bid over the base price on any individual in the pen. No Auctioneer is used - sort of a casual, less pressure deal - but the cattle bring as much money or more that way.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Larry --- How refreshing it is to hear/read an autioneer actually admit that (bid running), even though I'm sure that all of us that understand what's going on really despise the practice when we are there as buyers (and not as sellers!). I attend several cattle and equipment auctions per year down around Houston where the auctioneer is notorious for bid running, getting "hung up" WAY too frequently, etc. Always have to be extra alert when trying to buy something from him, but if I were a seller I guess I'd prefer him.

 

[TheBullLady]

I really enjoy the registered sales.. it's a good excuse to get away for a day with a friend! I get the catalog early and spend days going over all the bloodlines and EPD information, and mark up the catalog as to which ones I would be interested in. Then we get to the sale early, or the day before, and make more notations after actually seeing the cattle. By the time they sell, I have an idea of how much I'm actually going to spend on any individual.

If you've never been to one, it's really an education. I used to buy sale barn calves in Illinois, and learned the hard way about the auctioneer running up the prices. I always watch who else is bidding, generally the ones "running up" the bids are the same people.

 

[Rustler9]

I agree with the bull lady-I thoroughly enjoy registered sales. I usually wear the sale catalog out before I get to the sale pouring over the offerings and reading the pedigrees. I can't wait to get to the sale and see all my friends from other parts of the country. In the Longhorn industry the sales are not as plentiful and as close together so to me it's a vacation to get to take a couple of days off and go.