Selling bred/open commercial heifers
- Thread starter ZMT
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We donated heifers to kids to show at the fairs but retained ownership of them. Sold some at the local salebarn at the special cow sales and talked them up as they came in the ring. Sold registered heifers and cows with our herd ID at the state RA association sales. That and word of mouth from the vet and our local AI stud reps have helped. It doesn;t come over night, you have to deelop quality animals that work in your environment. Ou environment si dominated with toxic fescue.
Cull hard, get second opinions, stand behind what you sell, and BE HONEST. Network. Attend social gatherings. Put quality animals in sales so people see what you have. If it doesn't hurt a little bit to sell it, it's not good enough. That point cannot be overstressed. You put junk in a sale, people aren't going to forget. If you put ads up on the internet, I, as a buyer, would assume that the best looking animal in your ad is the best one you have selling. Take good pictures! If you walk up to something and take a picture while it has it's head in a bucket, or at a terrible angle, I'm going to assume you either don't know what you're doing, or you don't care. It all just takes time and learning.
James T
Well-known member
dun":e99pii6t said:
Dun, how do you market those toxic fescue tolerant cattle that you developed?
It's really pretty simple. Folkscome out and look at them and buy them. They figure I guess that if they'll do that good on our grass without supplements other then minerals that they'll probably work for them too. We do make sure that we always specify how they are raised and fed. That tends to perk up ears. The single biggest compliment we've recved was when som folks came to look at a coupleo cows they commented that it's really nice to see animals that are better then they were represented. In stead of 2 that they on they bought 6 head.James T":3spqhw02 said:
James T
Well-known member
I was just wondering if the 'toxic fescue tolerant' part was a selling point. Don't know anything about fescue. Are most cattle up that way tolerant or is there anything special about getting them to that point?
James T":23aelko3 said:
Me personally, I don't think endophyte is as hard on cattle as many believe. With that said, I must have some fear of it because I never let my horses on mature fescue or near seed heads.
J&D Cattle
Well-known member
James T":3v22puos said:
Most all cattle here are tolerant. We have one or two that stand in the pond a bit and limp a while but nothing major. We don't worry about it at all.
The fescue tolerant deal is for folks in fescue areas. I've seen enough cattle brought in from non-fescue areas and they've lost switches, feet, condition, not reproduced, died or just failed to perform. If they are tolerant of the stuff you won;t notice a difference, if they aren;t you can sure tell in short order. We've selected for cows that will not just get by on fescue but will perform well. It's just part of the selection crietria we've chosen. Most cows brought in from non-fescue areas will take 3-4 years to adapt, if they're already adapted that's a plus.
HOSS
Well-known member
Join your local Cattleman's Association. It is a good networking location for both buyers and sellers. I have bought and sold some through contacts made there.
I also used craigslist. A contact who called me to buy a cull cow I was selling saw my heifers and coveted them so the next year he bought all of my heifers and then again bought them all the next. He has already spoken for this years crop when they are weaned.
I also used craigslist. A contact who called me to buy a cull cow I was selling saw my heifers and coveted them so the next year he bought all of my heifers and then again bought them all the next. He has already spoken for this years crop when they are weaned.
