Sale Barn, Slaughter House Etc ...

[WhirlingDRanch]

Hi
I was wondering how the actual sale of cattle worked here in the USA.

The reason why I'm asking is that In Ireland we basically have two sales options, if the daily market prices are right we can bring our young calf's to the auction/sale barn, it's not a guarantee that they will be sold but a majority of the time you will have a sale, the other option is to go to the slaughter house and if your cattle pass the vets examination they will give you the going daily market rate of which is an option that is pretty much 100% guaranteed that you will be going home with an empty trailer.

I guess my question is, if I have a healthy heard of cattle, both weanling heifers and steers or maybe older close to finishing cattle, my question is how hard is it to sell them and who or where do I bring them to for a sale?

I know my question has many variables at stake which is hard to give a sound answer, I'm just trying to find out how the system works here in the USA, I want to be going home with an empty and not a loaded trailer, I sure would appreciate all the advice I can get regarding this type of thing.

Thank you!

PS - Please forgive my terminology as I'm originally from across the pond where we say and do things a little differently :mrgreen:

 

[bigbull338]

if you take a load of cattle to the sale here in the states.they will all be sold.an the sale wont be over till everything has sold.now you may not like the price you get for them.but the market is what the buyers are willing to pay.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Around here the sale barns have a sale every week. I have three sale barns in my area close enough to haul to.

 

[dyates]

Ask around and pick a salebarn with a good reputation. You can mix all sexes and ages of cattle on a trailer and a good salebarn will sort them in a way that will bring you the most money. Everything is auctioned to the highest bidder. If you do not like the price, you have to bid them in and buy them back yourself. That doesn't happen very often, but if it does, you have to pay the fees for the "sale". Most stockyards also sell both by the pound and by the head. There are some instance where by the head sales may be advantageous, replacement quality yearling heifers as an example. There again, a good, reputable salebarn will advise you as to what will probably make you the most money.

 

[Dave]

You can also sell fat cattle or cull cows straight to the slaughter house. They generally wont take single animals and will require a trailer load. I however, have sold single cull cows on the rail in the past but they prefer more at one time and you probably get a better price. And I know that the major fat cattle plant in my state will take steers by the goose neck trailer loads.

 

[dun]

You can also sell fat cattle or cull cows straight to the slaughter house. They generally wont take single animals and will require a trailer load. I however, have sold single cull cows on the rail in the past but they prefer more at one time and you probably get a better price. And I know that the major fat cattle plant in my state will take steers by the goose neck trailer loads.

There are still a few smaller plants that will take the ones and twos. The one in our town just closed down though.

 

[backhoeboogie]

If you do not like the price, you have to bid them in and buy them back yourself.

I'd never do that. It could get you skinned if people found out you were bidding on your own cattle.

I would P.O. them instead. Essentially declare a no sale. Cross both arms in front of you with fists up. It happens at the sale barn - especially for registered stock when folks think they are worth more than hamburger prices.

I've never declared a no sale but was prepared to do it once. A cow went down in the trailer and couldn't get her footing. It took her an hour to walk properly and they wouldn't preg check her. They brought her through late and she fetched about $100 less than she should have. I was okay with it. Better than to drag her home and bring her back another time and sit through.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

A good thing for you to do is taake the time to go watch a few sales and see for your self how it works. It would be time well spent for you.

 

[WhirlingDRanch]

Hi ...

Thank you all for the informative and helpful information... much appreciated!

Like Red Bull Breeder has stated, I agree in that it would be time well spent for me to visit a sales barn in my area and see how the entire process works. Again thank you all, because I've gotten something from each and every one of your postings, it comes a sigh of relief to hear that a majority of what you bring to the sales barns and slaughter houses are excepted....extremely helpful....much appreciated!

Thank you!

PS - I forgot to ask, does the color or breed of cattle have a big part in what goes well at sales barns and what is excepted by slaughter houses?

 

[IluvABbeef]

I forgot to ask, does the color or breed of cattle have a big part in what goes well at sales barns and what is excepted by slaughter houses?

You bet. All around most cattle that are all black, all red, black-baldies or yellow-baldies sell well. Also, having a uniform herd (a herd of the same colour) helps to get more bang for your buck. (You'd get more $$$ for having healthy ambulatory animals too.) Around the northern/central US they'll dock if the cattle have too much ear, have horns (i.e., are not dehorned) or the hide is too spotty/patchy (like the roan shorthorns/shorty crosses or holsteins). Down south, around Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, etc., where Brahman-influence is strong, I wouldn't think you'd find any auctioneers or slaughter houses docking a producer for too much ear.

 

[dcara]

You'd get more $$$ for having healthy ambulatory animals too.

Aren't non-ambulatory cattle considered "downers" which can not be sold at the sale barns?

 

[bigbull338]

right you cant sale down or cripple cattle at the sale that can barely walk.

 

[IluvABbeef]

You'd get more $$$ for having healthy ambulatory animals too.

Aren't non-ambulatory cattle considered "downers" which can not be sold at the sale barns?

That's what I meant about "ambulatory": animals that are healthy enough to walk. Or run.

And yes non-ambulatory livestock are considered downers.