Sales canceled

[Logan52]

After we have all had fun;
I see nothing wrong with canceling a sale or two during a short term heat wave, when the forecast for the next week is for a return to normal or slightly below temperatures.
You would want to be sure all your customers were aware of it. I would be very upset to load cattle in 95 degree heat and haul them only to find the yards closed.

 

[tex452]

My high school had no AC and i graduated in 1978.
I have become soft over the years, and I told my wife if we have to work 7 days a week, we are going to stay cool when we can.
I have seen people worth millions of $ and die with millions of $ and never turn on the AC because they didn't want to spend the extra money, sometimes you have to say what's the use of working all the time if you don't enjoy some of it?

 

[wbvs58]

If it is anything like here there is a lot more awareness of animal welfare and they err on the side of caution. Just got to have one animal drop dead for what ever reason and there could be some activist lurking ready to take a photo of it and make headlines out of it.

Ken

 

[Dave]

When you sell on Superior you give a range of dates to ship the cattle like Sept 1 to 15. Always at the reps digression. My SIL use to rep for Superior. He got the rules changed where a rep could with cause change it to outside the given dates. He did that after shipping calves in northeast Montana when it was -40. That weather didn't do his lungs any good and most likely it wasn't good for the calves too.

 

[Lucky]

It's hot here too, been over a 100* for the last few weeks. It seems like the earth is getting closer to the sun or something. I noticed last year I was having trouble working in the direct sun when it got into the high 90s but this year I can't handle it for more than 45 minutes or so. I'm good in the shade but not out in the sun. We had two slabs poured last week and those guys handled the heat amazingly well. Yesterday the ole boy building a shop for me worked for 12 hrs in the sun and it was 103*. He's tougher than me for sure. As usual the cattle seem to be smarter than us humans, they graze morning and night and lay in the shade or take a swim all day.

 

[Dave]

Last Wednesday it was 103 here. I remember it well. That was the day we worked and weaned calves and shipped the cows. That made it probably 105 or 106 in Vale. They had their sale. Sold over 600 head. The yard is uncovered. It would have been a bear working out there. I bet they had to switch horses pretty regular.
My son and his business partner build pole buildings. They are working on one in Westport WA. That is right on the ocean. It was 99 there that day which unheard of hot for that area. He said they bought a case of water that morning and drank it all.

 

[Warren Allison]

Facilities not set up for good circulation and shade?

Down here it is not only heat, but humidity, At or near 100% humidity, sweat doesn't evaporate, Sprinklers and misters are useless ...the water just adds an extra layer of insulation to their coat.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

It got up to 100 degrees for 2 or 3 days here in SW Oregon. Husband and I did our usual outdoor work, just drank more water because we are Texans.

Hardly anyone has air conditioning here. We don't, just fans. The secret is...... Wet T shirts. It's not a contest, its wet cotton T shirts for men, women and children. Any air blowing on you cools the skin.

About 20 years ago when husband and I were just friends, He had two angus heifer bulls out in the pasture. He said he was worried about them because he never saw them work, they just stood around under the trees all day. Later, I came over and looking out over the fields he said 'Turns out I didn't have to worry about those two black bulls. They work at night.'

 

[TexasRancher]

Lots of people nowadays have never actually seen any kerosene..

I miss it dearly...it's no fun using diesel for a solvent. I wonder what people are using in their diesel vehicles when it's 100 degrees below zero? They must still have it up north into Canada.

 

[Ebenezer]

I guess it is just me and I mentioned it the other day - who wants to sell calves or cows right now in the worst heat and see a high shrink before they hit the scales? We did that when I was a kid - the time to sell was by the 10th of August. We sorted and weighed within a day or two before they were sold. The calves stayed on the cows until they were loaded. The shrink on hot days was tremendous - up towards 30 pounds on some. Those weights helped my father realize that the typical higher price could also come with a loss of more than was gained. I understand the drought deal but generally I try to sell when the temps are better.

 

[greybeard]

My uncles use to tell us the O&G version of that... it was diesel rags to keep the ants away.

or seed ticks. Diesel or kerosene rags tied around our boot tops, dusted with sulfur. (didn't seem to help much)

 

[greybeard]

It's hot here too, been over a 100* for the last few weeks. It seems like the earth is getting closer to the sun or something. I noticed last year I was having trouble working in the direct sun when it got into the high 90s but this year I can't handle it for more than 45 minutes or so. I'm good in the shade but not out in the sun. We had two slabs poured last week and those guys handled the heat amazingly well. Yesterday the ole boy building a shop for me worked for 12 hrs in the sun and it was 103*. He's tougher than me for sure. As usual the cattle seem to be smarter than us humans, they graze morning and night and lay in the shade or take a swim all day.

If they closed sales every time temps were over 100, there wouldn't be many in this area during summer.

There's a big difference between being in 104° in direct sunlight and 104° in the shade. The direct sunlight causes heat to build up on your skin and even on the top of my full head of hair.


"last few weeks"?
Austin had 28 days of uninterrupted 100° days up until Aug 22 but 46 days this summer (as of Aug 20) that triple digits were reached and San Antonio has had over 70 days of 100° or more.
2011 still holds the record in Austin tho. 74 days over 100°.

 

[CowboyRam]

Last January they closed the sale because of the snow storm; postponed until the following Friday. No one could get in or out of Riverton for a day or two. I spent a couple hours digging out just so I could take the calves to the sale, only to have to haul them back home again. Good thing I'm only six miles out of town. Would not been much of a sale if the buyers couldn't get there. So far the highest temp has been 94.

 

[Lucky]

I wonder how much calves would shrink standing at a salebarn for a full 24 hrs in this weather? I'd guess a 800# yearling would loose 40# in triple digit weather.

 

[Texas G@l]

I don't recall any sales around here being called for heat. February 2021 they canceled due to water being frozen because of lack of electricity. One sale was canceled in late October 2018 due to excessive rain.... over 10+ inches that
month. Everything was a big mud pit.

 

[Ouachita]

If it is anything like here there is a lot more awareness of animal welfare and they err on the side of caution. Just got to have one animal drop dead for what ever reason and there could be some activist lurking ready to take a photo of it and make headlines out of it.

Ken

I never considered that angle, which is certainly worthy of consideration nowadays.

 

[kenny thomas]

I wonder how much calves would shrink standing at a salebarn for a full 24 hrs in this weather? I'd guess a 800# yearling would loose 40# in triple digit weather.

Im gonna guess 10% so 80lb

 

[kenny thomas]

At one point today it was 95 with 80% humidity. That hurts.

 

[kenny thomas]

Sale in Mt Sterling ky on Wednesday has been selling 800-900. Had 228 yesterday
Stanford ky has been over 1100, today had 173.

 

[bird dog]

I wonder how much calves would shrink standing at a salebarn for a full 24 hrs in this weather? I'd guess a 800# yearling would loose 40# in triple digit weather.

A 800 lb yearling would at least not be scared at the water trough if there is one. A 550 lb trailer weaned calf would not get close to the water trough and lose 10 to 12%