Sale Barn Cattle

[kenny thomas]

All the post about ethics got me to thinking (yes I know that could be dangerous), how many of you buy cattle from the sale barns?

Do you feel you are qualified to make good decisions when you buy?

I am not trying to say anything bad about anything, just wondering.

I will give some of my opinions later.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I buy. I miss a lot because I am looking really hard. I don't have the "eye" for cattle like some have had in my past.

Generally I buy 6 or so beef splits every year for grafting onto the nurse cow. I have gone and bought a trailer load of heavy breds but that is not an annual thing.

I bought a crazy fence jumping idiot once on Friday. Finally caught her, fought her across a cut gate, and then across a medina gate, with her trying to jump it, me pulling it to me when she jumped and slamming her back with the gate. She was blowing snot and wanting to stomp a hole in me the whole time. Finally loaded her and hauled her to Meridian sale a day ahead for the Tuesday sale. Told them she was an idiot and she needed to be hamburger even tho she was HB with numbers still written on her. Cautioned them to get the heck out of the way when she came out of the trailer. The laughed at that part and a few seconds later they were jumping panels to get away from her. She went per pound and I lost something like $38 on her plus my mileage and time.

Bought a 7 month HB once for $360. Best money maker yet for a sale barn HB. Short and solid. She calved on 10 1/2 months intervals for 7 years before her teeth went. Raised nice calves. She was lacking ear but was a very light gray fall calver initially. She raised good calves. I've got two of her daughters running in my herd now calved out of a brangus sire. Nice udder and nice commercial cows. Sold her and she brought something in the neighborhood of $480 as a kill cow. I almost past on that cow.

 

[backhoeboogie]

In '08 I bought 39 light weight heifer calves altogether (I think) from the sale barn. Ran out of nuflour and lost 3 of them. I've culled several this past fall. There's still something like 18 or so of them out there in the pasture that should calve within the next 6 months.

The first bunch I bought and backgrounded were fine. The second bunch came in with shipping fever during the background process. Likely exposed to something there at the barn that week.

 

[Hawk]

This subject has literally been beat to death on this board, but I will take a turn at bat again and offer my two cents worth. I have bought and sold cattle in sale barns for years and hope to again. I like sale barns and consider them one of the corner stones of the beef cattle industry. Within 100 miles of my place in North East Texas there are at least 7 sale barns holding weekly sales. Each one of these will sale 1000 to 2000 head on a good day. The vast majority of the cattle are yearlings on the way to feed yards. I have heard the stories that sale barns are just seething caldrons of all manner of vile diseases and all of the cattle are culls and rejects and no competent cattleman would ever consider buying anything from such a terrible place. Well, I beg to differ. If the sale bares were anywhere near as bad as some people claim, they would be out of business in a month. The people offering these opinions are usually the ones that will tell you to come out to their place and they will sell you some good, healthy cows at twice the price. So, I vote for auction barns.

 

[dun]

Over the years I've bought some excellent cows from salbarns, I've also been burned a few times. Goes with the territory. If I didn;t feel I was competent to do it I wouldn;t

 

[rkm]

I have bought and sold at the sale barns. I am not too proud say I have needed a dollar fast and thats what I have cattle for; to sell. I don't have a line of people waiting for me to sell but the sale barn does.

 

[Jogeephus]

I like sale barns and consider them one of the corner stones of the beef cattle industry.

Same here.

Do you feel you are qualified to make good decisions when you buy?

I've lost a lot less money in a sale barn picking calves than I have picking wives. Qualified? No one ever said education would be cheap.

 

[1982vett]

I've lost a lot less money in a sale barn picking calves than I have picking wives. Qualified? No one ever said education would be cheap.

Yeah, got to watch out for those "photoshop" women just as you do for the cattle. :lol:

 

[Angus Cowman]

Yes I buy cows from the sale barn, and yes I sell some of my good calves at the salebarns because there is always some that don't fit in with the group or too many to fit on the pots when shipping

as for qualified, I have bought some good cows a nd I have hooked myself on buying some dinks at the salebarn the more ya buy the better you will get (hopefully)

I also feel that salebarns are good place to buy and sell cattle because I would say that 90% (I am just guessing at the #) or more of the people that have cattle sell their cattle thru salebarns or stockyards

 

[backhoeboogie]

There's a hobby guy in Glen Rose, TX who buys 15 round bales from me every year. He runs pure bred. He had 8 F-1 calvess this year and offered them to me at a bargain. They are the wrong breed for my climate. They went to the sale barn. Nice animals.

 

[Caustic Burno]

All the post about ethics got me to thinking (yes I know that could be dangerous), how many of you buy cattle from the sale barns?

Do you feel you are qualified to make good decisions when you buy?

I am not trying to say anything bad about anything, just wondering.

I will give some of my opinions later.

I churn salebarn cattle quite often , have I ever been burned yes but I have been burned private treaty as well.
There are also salebarn cattle eating my hay right now, I picked up several Heavies a couple weeks ago and will be back on Sat.

 

[TexasBred]

I love to sit at different sale barns and watch for that one or two heavy bred cows that come thru the ring and for some reason nobody seems to want them. Have had good luck over the years buying these, calving them out and then selling them as pairs when the calf weighs about 275-300 lbs. Had one cow have a still birth and lost one older cow when we had about 3 days of very cold drizzling rain. Otherwise it's enjoyable and a nice challenge. I keep one small pasture just for these cows.

 

[alacattleman]

was at the sale barn last month,,this guy behind me had a beautiful brangus type cow calf at side.. pen hooker bounced him right off, muchyewantferer,he said ill be honest shes got a problem are she wouldnt be here ,,, she wasnt producing enough milk he told us.. the pen hooker said you let me worry bout that and into the barn she went,,, sht like this happens every day im aint gonna fly in there with angel wings trying to right every wrong, you see me unload a cow at the barn you can bet she ready for the kill pen

 

[marksmu]

I have never been to the barn before to buy...watched a few times, but never bought. It goes to fast for me since I dont generally know what Im looking at. I planted more Rye this year than I needed as an experiment in wintering without any hay. It worked out pretty well, but now that we FINALLY got a week without rain - I can see that I am going to have way more grass than I need for the spring/summer. Before this week I was wondering if it was ever gonna stop raining.

I have been looking for some private treaty light weights, but cant find more than 1 or 2 for sale at reasonable prices. I think I am going to goto the barn, and take a friend who buys frequently and just roll the dice on a uniform group of lightweights. The way I see it, is I'll buy em, bring em home, work em, tag em, and sequester them for a couple weeks...if things look good after 2 weeks, Im turning them in with the rest.

I figure a best it goes really well, and I make a few bucks and not have to mow....at worst, I lose a few, and end up taking the rest back to the barn....either way I learned something. I just hope that I learn without losing anything.

Im just getting started and I am not quitting my day job, so I can afford to lose, but I really care for the animals that I bring onto my place, and I really want to do well. The long term goal is to have a retirement herd....I may go next week if I cant find anything before then.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have never been to the barn before to buy...watched a few times, but never bought. It goes to fast for me since I dont generally know what Im looking at. I planted more Rye this year than I needed as an experiment in wintering without any hay. It worked out pretty well, but now that we FINALLY got a week without rain - I can see that I am going to have way more grass than I need for the spring/summer. Before this week I was wondering if it was ever gonna stop raining.

I have been looking for some private treaty light weights, but cant find more than 1 or 2 for sale at reasonable prices. I think I am going to goto the barn, and take a friend who buys frequently and just roll the dice on a uniform group of lightweights. The way I see it, is I'll buy em, bring em home, work em, tag em, and sequester them for a couple weeks...if things look good after 2 weeks, Im turning them in with the rest.

I figure a best it goes really well, and I make a few bucks and not have to mow....at worst, I lose a few, and end up taking the rest back to the barn....either way I learned something. I just hope that I learn without losing anything.

Im just getting started and I am not quitting my day job, so I can afford to lose, but I really care for the animals that I bring onto my place, and I really want to do well. The long term goal is to have a retirement herd....I may go next week if I cant find anything before then.

Are you going to Raywood? There are some good buys to be had at Livingston as a lot of part timers sell there due to it being a Sat. Auction.

 

[marksmu]

Havent yet figured out where Im going to go. The only auctions I have been to were when we were selling culls from my grandmothers ranch out in Schulenburg. I dont even recall the sale barn we went too, though I still have the paperwork.

I would prefer to get my cows as locally as possible. I've been told, and it seems to hold quite a bit of truth, that cattle from too far north (150 or so miles), or too far west (100 miles), cant deal with the mosquitoes and the humidity we have. Ive got an ad out looking for the lightweights, and if I dont get any takers, then Im going to have to pick a barn and roll the dice.

Do you have a preference on barns? Our cows have to have quite a bit of ear to last down our way.

 

[Dave]

I can't remember the first cow I bought at a sale bare but I know my mom drove me there because I wasn't old enough to drive. I am now 58 and I bought three heavy bred cows last weekend at the sale. Over the years I have had far more winners than I have had losers. And as someone mentioned earlier women have cost me a lot more money than saleyard cattle. So I guess I have a better eye for cattle than I do for women.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Havent yet figured out where Im going to go. The only auctions I have been to were when we were selling culls from my grandmothers ranch out in Schulenburg. I dont even recall the sale barn we went too, though I still have the paperwork.

I would prefer to get my cows as locally as possible. I've been told, and it seems to hold quite a bit of truth, that cattle from too far north (150 or so miles), or too far west (100 miles), cant deal with the mosquitoes and the humidity we have. Ive got an ad out looking for the lightweights, and if I dont get any takers, then Im going to have to pick a barn and roll the dice.

Do you have a preference on barns? Our cows have to have quite a bit of ear to last down our way.

Since your in the Old and Lost River country here are some I have been eyeing.
Be better if you could find some Herf/Brangus crosses

http://www.southeasttexas.com/classifie ... pe=general

 

[Caustic Burno]

About three weeks ago at Livingston somebody was dumping some fine Brangus girls from heavy bred heifers to 7 yr old heavies I bought some of the older girls and averaged 500 a head for them.

 

[marksmu]

Ive got 20 heavy bred polled brangus girls now....and Ive got 19 polled brangus heifers that I am putting the bull on in April, when they are of breeding age....what I need right now, (at least I think) is about 20-40 lightweight weaned steers, or heifers....I bought a good set of cows with good heifer calves when I bought and that is the bloodline for the most part I wanted to go with...so anything I would be adding I would just want to keep for the short term to sell and not to build my herd with.

Grass isnt a problem....I am just so much more comfortable with buying private treaty...but if you cant find em, you cant find em. The barn it is.