shipping calves two days early?

[talltimber]

I need to make a decision, and would like you guys that see this, or do it yourselves, help in my info gathering.

Calves have had two rounds, pinkeye, fly tags, wormed, 3 lbs of commodity 14% since May while on straight fescue pasture. Knife cut.

Nine heifers and six steers weighing 600 ish to 750 ish. (My eye is not too good and I've looked at them daily for...a while)

option 1

Sell at local barn, prices twenty cents back or more, depending. 4% or so commission. Arrive at sale the morning of regular weekly sale.

option 2

Bigger barn, two hours distant. Sale will be two mornings following the morning of shipment. Supposedly, hopefully, will be hay'd, fed, and watered. Sell first on sale day. Straight $14/hd commission. This will be a pre vac sale.

Concerns are mostly about the shrink, and if they would have time to get it back, or at least some of it. I'm unsure as to if it would be worth it to send them to the big barn if the shrink will eat up the difference in price and commission difference.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

I regularly ship weaned calves 275 miles on Saturday for a Monday sale in OKC. Weigh them when leave my farm and compare to sale pay weights. Worst have done is 2% shrink but have sold many loads that payed for more lb than weighed on truck leaving farm. My average is around zero shrinkat OKC. 2 days on good feed with proper care will recover shrink. When selling locally average 4-5% shrink.

To me the situation you describe is a no brainer. For me the extra pay weight in OKC pays all the freight and part of the commission compared to selling locally.

 

[J&D Cattle]

Just the difference in commission will pay a lot of shrink if there is any. Wouldn't bother me at all to go with option 2 if I was in your shoes. Personally I attend our local sale on a weekly basis and have become friends with the owners. Just this Monday one of the owners stood up and gave some additonal info about a bull I was selling and got me another $300/head according to a friend that was watching the sale. I didn't ask her to do it either so it was a nice surprise.

 

[skyhightree1]

Barn I sell at is 2 hrs away I carry sale morning they weight soon as get off truck. I wouldn't want to drop mine off saturday and wait for the sale on Monday.

 

[Dave]

The barn I prefer to sell at is 180 miles away. I send weaned calves a day or two early. I have been there a couple hours before the sale time. The calves were still in a pen on feed and water. Lower commission, higher prices, and less shrink wins every time over higher commission, lower price, and more shrink but closer. To me it is a no brainer. One of the advantages of weaned calves.

 

[js1234]

send them to the better sale further away.

 

[bigbull338]

go ahead and haul them to the sale further away.then with the hauling and barn expenses youll know if you made money by doing so or lost money.

 

[talltimber]

It seems the common opinion is to send them. That's the way I'm leaning. So yeah, I'll find out, if I keep them that long. Had a guy ask about my heifers today, caught me off guard and didn't price them yet. I'd rather sell off the farm.

 

[Ojp6]

Sell them at the farther away one just to try it. Weigh you calves before you leave and then figure shrink though because one barn we sold at that said they would feed them clearly didn't and they shrunk over 11%

 

[talltimber]

I figure if I do this I'll try to get them weighed before going to the receiving station here locally. I don't have scales on the farm, so it won't be handy. Shipping on Sunday morning, nothing will be open as far as weigh scales I don't think.

I thought about driving out to check to be sure they were being taken care of on Monday, then back to the sale on Tuesday. Those trips will offset the advantage though so...I'm wanting my calves to be taken care of. I would probably get pretty hot if that happened to me Ojp6. Did you talk with the owner/manager about that incident, and what kind of satisfaction did you get, if any?

 

[Ojp6]

We just left it alone. We knew it was a possibility when we took them there and they brought enough by the pound it wasn't too big of a hit anyways.