"Ship Her" Not to my sale, thank you.

[Rafter E]

When I go to the salebarn, I go with the intention of buying as troublefree cows as possible, which means PROFITABLE, near ZERO maintenance etc.... I will buy a broken or even smoothmouth, I'll buy a skinny cow, and even on occaision a hoofrot.

What I don't want, is YOUR PROBLEM COW. If you as a responsible cattleman, or woman, have determined that a particular cow is unfit for your operation, what makes you feel good about me buying her when you know of a problem that cannot be fixed?

Want me to lose money? then sell your slaughter cows without designating them as slaughter cows. I may buy one or more which won't make it on my ranch any better than they did yours.

Where are your ethics? "Ship her" you say...when you should slaughter. You reap what you sow...

 

[Bama]

This is the general nature of a salebarn. It is like a "as is" place to purchase. Sure if a problem is known they are passed on sometimes. When you buy from a salebarn that is the risk you take. They are normally cheaper when bought from a salebarn than if you buy from an individual. From an individual you know more about the animal and expect to pay more. some of the cattle purchased from a salebarn have been trucked in from several states away. Some have been on trucks for to long, some are sick, some are early bred heifers, some are cows bred to really big headed baby makers, some are steril, some have bad tempers and yes some are great cattle. This is where someone has to know about cattle to make a great purchase. Some sales are stocker sales, some are registered sales, some are breed specific sales, most are general sales. The purpose of these general sales are to sell cattle, any cattle. Look at the differance paid on cattle of the same weights. If they all were equal they would all bring a equal price. If your looking more for trouble free cattle the sale barn is not the best place to look. I would suggest you buy from an individual, but expect to pay more for a proven cow. Most of the time I buy from a salebarn. My ticket don't show who sold the animal. I don't even know if it came from the same state. All I know for sure is the weight, preg. check if applicable, and approx age if checked, unless it is a registered sale.

 

[R ^ 5]

Rafter E, it sounds like to me you got out traded.Tradeing cattle takes an education.It sounds like to me,you didn't study your lesson.Some of the hardest lessons in the cattle business are learned through the back pocket.I'll take all of your blind,cripple and crazies off your hands.Good luck to you in your future endevors.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Sale Barn is a "Buyer Beware" Situation. It can sometimes be a dumping ground for problem cattle. I can sympathize with wanting to see some morals at the sales, but it ain't gonna happen. That's why IF I do buy something at a sale I try to go with Pairs, at least you can see what you hope your're getting. I don't think that ethics are a major occurence at most barns.That has to be up to the individual seller. It's simply a place to sell cattle.Too bad they don't sell like an auto auction, Green=No defects, Yellow=possible problems,Red=watch you're hind end...

 

[brokenmouth]

those are some good real world responses. if anybody finds a salebarn where they do all my homework for me and take all the risk out of the deal please post directions and hours of operation.

 

[jerry27150]

there are still some of us that tell if their is something wrong with a cow. sold two 12 & a 14 year old , still had all their teeth so vet called them 8 years, but i told the guy buying they were older. got less money but i feel good. i've watched them tell people to sell a calf that won't suck, i would knock it in the head. you may want to sell something else someday & you can bet those people that bought from your lies will never buy yours again. have a neighbor that had a cow with prolapse & he kept her & bred her back & sold her as a bred cow later. you can bet that guy will not buy any of his cattle again. had one prolapse & he helped me sew her up & i said i wasn't going to do like some, she would go for meat soon as she raised that calf. still comes to a man's word over money

 

[Crowderfarms]

Jerry, You are an exception. Problem is most Sale Barns do not tell folks who a particular producer is. I feel the same way too. I like to Sleep at night.

 

[bigbull338]

not to offend anyone but you have to use eyes fast to spot probs like hrd breathing bad eyes bad bagg bad limp but mostly know in your mind what a cow is worth most all cows are buy at your own risk scott

 

[denoginnizer]

Some of the cattlemen around here breed there problem cows and wait until the auction barn has a special " bred cow sale" then they co-mingal there cows in with the good cows.
A bred cow might bring 1000 while a kill cow might bring 600. In a business where profit margins are slim the temptation is often to great to make the extra money.
Every cow I take to the sale barn has a problem. I keep the good ones.

 

[Muratic]

Every cow I take to the sale barn has a problem. I keep the good ones.

I'll second that. You want a problem free cow, call me and I'll be more than happy to sell you some private treaty.

 

[dun]

We specify that the problem cows go to the kill pen. Fat lot of good it does. There are alwasy jokers that will buy them at killer prices and haul them to another barn and resell them. I once saw a wet cow get put with a calf that had come in the day before and sold as a pair. Since the cow was trying to kick the crap out of the calf even when it just walked past her I would have thought someone would have caught on.

dun

 

[bigbull338]

dun some ppl dont think fast enough to catch tricks like that nor do they really look at the cows as they go though the ring scott

 

[UG]

Not only does the buyer have to beware at the sale barn, he needs to beware at purebred sales as well.

When I got back into the cattle business after being away for awhile (job transfers to different towns and states kept me away from the farm temporarily) I wanted to get into the seedstock business. The first auction that I attended where I took my checkbook, I bought six females. The sale was a consignment sale of 5 or 6 breeders who were all offering some of their "best." Well, there best didn't do very well in our operation. The first cow stayed less than a year; she was so wild she would charge you rather than allow you to corral her. All but one were gone within a couple more years.

Needless to say, I haven't been back to that sale ever since and have no intention of ever buying another animal from any of those breeders. I should have done my homework ahead of time and asked around to see what kind of a reputation these breeders had. Come to find out later one of the lead consigners to the sale has a HORRIBLE reputation. Don't be swayed by fancy ads in magazines. Just because a guys spends lots of money on ads, fancy displays at shows, etc. is no indication to the quality of his cattle. Take the advice from someone who found out the hard way.

 

[bigbull338]

not saying nothing bad but ppl go to those sales intent on buying cattle an get in a hurry doing so an sting themselves but we all have to learn scott

 

[TLCfromARK]

When I sell a cow or pair at the barn it could be for any reason. A note to meet, pay for hay, or just the normal yearly culling. The only thing I'll make a comment about is how is one to tell every possible buyer about what's wrong with their cattle? Come on, some are good cows but most are being sold for a reason. I've told the people checking the cattle into the pens about certain animals. Wild, mean, etc. but whether or not that gets passed on into the ring, I don't know, I don't stay for the sale very often.

Everybody culls for different reasons, age, milking, temperment, late to breed back, lack of grass, etc. But one person's culls might be what someone else is looking for. ( sometimes :?: ) If that person is looking to buy a older cow that has a few more good calves in her, a poor bred cow that they can carry through the summer and then sell a pair in the fall.

I'm away from home working quite a bit so I cull really hard ( not quite as hard as Campground :shock: ) on cows having a healthly calf that nurse on their own when they hit the ground. Someone else that's on the farm full time might not mind having to spend a few hours helping a "good" calf nurse the first time. Or a "hobby" farmer that is looking for a certain type of cow, breed, color, polled, horned, size or temperment might be willing to buy a cow that only has a calf every 16 months instead of every 12 just because thats the cow they want.

The seller doesn't know why someone is buying their animals, the barn doesn't know why they're buying ( unless it's one of the regular buyers for the stock yards ). You don't get the info at a sale barn you get from a indiviual, you pay your money and you take your chances. Bottom line is buying cows at a sales barn is a learning experence. Sometimes as you're learning you make a few mistakes, it's part of the game.

Sorry about the rambling.
;-)

 

[endebt]

i quit buying any cattle at the sale barn. if you need 10 head you will half to buy 20 because of the problems. i bought 7 head at a spiecal sale all aged and preg checked. 3 had no teeth just pearls , 2 got on the fight coming out of the trailer, 2 turned out to be older but good cows. i feed the 5 bad ones and calved them out and sold them . the guy at the sale barn said"they look good and young ". i just nodded and left. buying at the sale barn you are buying someone elses problem.go to aknown rancher and buy on private treaty. they will make it right so you will come back and tell your friends.

 

[dcara]

Great thread! For novices like me these real world observations by you more experianced folks is very helpful. I run Red Angus and have only ever bought private treaty. But I still go to the auction in Emory if/when the feed store there has a better price for corn just so I can stay tuned into the other side of the market. IF I can save enough there on feed to pay for the extra fuel to get there and have enough left over for a hot dog and coke at the auction then I am outta here.

 

[bigbull338]

well now when you go to emory the cattle there are going to higher than catsback esp if your looking for bred cows or pairs b/c mcshane will be there buying all the good cattle an driving the price up on the rest of the cattle scott

 

[SF]

Buying cattle at a sale barn is sort of like buying a car at a used car lot. "Buyer Beware". Fortunately there are quite a few people who do buy at sale barns, therefore some of you have someone to purchase your problem cows.

Private treaty sales do not always work out well either. Last year I bought five registered bred cows from a breeder in Arkansas. 2- 7 year old, 2- 6 year old, and 1- 4 year old. They were all in great condition when I bought them. All calved and raised good calves. As it turns out though, one is not an easy keeper, she always looks underfed and malnutrioned. One died this past spring from eating a plastic bag. The other three are doing well. Even though there have been some problems, I will most definitely buy from him again. I know that there are many risks when buying cattle. The cow dying is not his fault. The one which turns out to not be an easy keeper......well that's just the way it goes.

If you sell enough cattle, sooner or later you will have an unhappy customer. Someone will feel you screwed them. That is just the way it goes in all business's. You will not be able to please everyone.

 

[jerry27150]

around here most sale barns ask the owner when the cows come in the ring what the deal is or they have asked them before if owner is not going to be there