Tips on buying feeder steers at auction

[somedaymaybe]

While I have had previous experience via 4H and FFA with livestock and horses, it has been several, several years since. That being said, I have never bought at auction. I do suspect the animals are mostly culls, yet I am not sure if there are ways to mask disease, scurry ect, and do not know what to expect to pay...ie: are the bids by the pound, and if we will be expected to pay fees for the auction, feed, vets, anything. Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[BC]

While I have had previous experience via 4H and FFA with livestock and horses, it has been several, several years since. That being said, I have never bought at auction. I do suspect the animals are mostly culls, yet I am not sure if there are ways to mask disease, scurry ect, and do not know what to expect to pay...ie: are the bids by the pound, and if we will be expected to pay fees for the auction, feed, vets, anything. Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you

First off, welcome to cattle today. Before I or anyone else can really help you we need to know what part of the world you operate in. My advice would be based on conditions here in East Texas which may or may not be applicable to your situation.

I buy cattle a couple of days a week for other people. The notion that the animals going through an auction are mostly culls is dead wrong. An auction brings buyers and sellers together. The average cow herd in Texas is something like 31 or 32 head. Not big enough to sell directly off the farm to a stocker or feeder operator who deals in truckload lots (48,000 lbs of same sex, weight and quality animals) unless you have a niche market. Here in Texas, most sale barns sell them one at a time. Order buyers will sit through sales buying cattle one at a time (occasionally there will be groups) that fit the specifications of the orders they are trying to fill. Some of the bigger order buying firms will have buyers at 6 to 10 sales everyday (5 to 6 days a week). These cattle are brought to the company's receiving pens and held until a truckload of the same order is put together to be shipped to the customer who placed an order.

If you are not familiar with buying at an auction, I really suggest you go watch several sales before you buy to make yourself familiar with how things work. You will probably save yourself some money by finding a local order buyer to make your purchases. I see too many part timers get caught up and pay more than they wanted to because they can not understand the auctioneer or get caught up in an adrenalin rush and don't know when to sell out. Another common problem I see is not being able to guess the weight as you are buying as most sales here weigh the animal as it leaves the ring. Had a friend who was putting some Brangus heifers together. He had them from 500 to 715 lbs, not very uniform. Buying commission varies depending on services provided (buying, hauling, processing, medicine, etc).

You never mentioned what type of cattle you were wanting to buy? Are you wanting to start with cows (open, bred or pairs) or calves and grow your herd?

 

[Jessica06]

The seller is responsible for all of the fees.

 

[Caustic Burno]

While I have had previous experience via 4H and FFA with livestock and horses, it has been several, several years since. That being said, I have never bought at auction. I do suspect the animals are mostly culls, yet I am not sure if there are ways to mask disease, scurry ect, and do not know what to expect to pay...ie: are the bids by the pound, and if we will be expected to pay fees for the auction, feed, vets, anything. Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you

Wrong the Salebarn is not an evil place full of cull's only.
Where do you think the majority of Cattlemen sell ?
It is not a place for rookies to buy, it is buyer beware.
If you don't know what your doing you need to find a mentor or keep your hand's in your pocket and watch the boy's that do. Forget watching the guy with a ten gallon hat and a belt buckle as big as hubcap.
Look for the old men in a pair of bib overall's or khaki's he will have a roll in his pocket big enough to choke a mule.
He is not there to say look at me he is there to make money.

 

[Dave]

First I will echo what BC said. It is a lot easier to give advise if we know what part of the world you are located in.
There aren't a bunch of culls at the sale. It gets that reputation because some people go there looking to buy something cheap. Or one is selling cheap so they buy it. There is generally a reason one is selling cheap. There is a reason that people who buy cattle for a living are passing on a calf. Another reason is in a lot of the country unvaccinated calves get weaned on the way to the auction. They are about to go through the highest stress of their life and at the same time be exposed to a lot of new and strange germs. Those who handle lots of cattle know this and act accordingly (as in vaccinate and treat sick ones in a timely manner). For the new person this can be a crap shot.
Go to several sales before you actually plan to buy.
Don't buy cheap cattle if you are new to this.
Talk to the experienced buyers. Many of those guys will help you out. Especially if you are only buying a few.
If you can figure out who the big buyers are. If you are bidding against them you will probably only pay a dollar or two above market. If you are bidding against another backyarder you could be paying a lot more than a calf is worth.
In my area the calves get cheaper as the day goes on. Just because a sale starts at 1:00 doesn't mean that you have to get your calf bought by 1:15. I see a lot of beginners making that mistake.

 

[somedaymaybe]

I appreciate all the feedback and apologize for being so vague. I live in Western North Carolina and am looking to purchase a feeder calf 200-300 lbs as it will be pasturing with calves the same weight. A good middle road beef stock, even a dairy cross, as this is just for personal beef and a learning tool. We plan to expand gradually to a small herd as we have only 11 acs of grass.

 

[12251HD]

I have a small cow-calf operation where I sell my feeders and cow culls at the sale barn. Occasionally, I buy heifers for restocking. I know the kind of cattle I'm looking for and follow a set budget. More often, I leave with an empty trailer.

 

[salebarn junkie]

I vary rarely buy anything in the first half of a sale. Don't believ anything the auctioner says about the calves vac or weining history always assume theve never had a shot and were weined on the trailer.

 

[fitz]

I appreciate all the feedback and apologize for being so vague. I live in Western North Carolina and am looking to purchase a feeder calf 200-300 lbs as it will be pasturing with calves the same weight. A good middle road beef stock, even a dairy cross, as this is just for personal beef and a learning tool. We plan to expand gradually to a small herd as we have only 11 acs of grass.

With that said, you may consider asking at the local co-op, feed store of farmers in the area. You might find that to be a more comfortable enviroment. Talking to some of those selling off the farm often leads to some good cattle advice and probably more background information on your purchase. I've sold some calves on CL also.

fitz