# So I was looking at sold prices for cattle at the stockyard...



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I've never been to a stockyard sale so I have a few questions....

My first question... can anyone go there and buy? Do they sell single cattle, or only lots of them?

So I see prices like this... 

Slaughter Cows Boner 80-85% Lean
Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg Price
4 1145-1335 1244 71.50-77.75 74.65
4 1505-1775 1580 69.00-77.00 74.03

So am I to understand I could buy a lot of 4 3/4 ton cows for $300????

Any information you could give me about stockyard sales would be very much appreciated..


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Those prices are per hundredweight. So the average 1244 pound slaughter cow at the average price of $74.65/cwt would cost $928.65. (12.44 X 74.65, OR 1,244 X .7465, whichever way the math works better in your head)


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

aaaaahhhh... OK.. that makes a LOT more sense... I was looking at those prices and trying to figure out why anyone would raise a cow to sell at those prices...


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Here is another one:
http://www.davidclarkauction.com/images/4-1-13%20Mkt%20Report.pdf


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

any one can buy at the auction, unless you really know cattle do not buy singles, the chances are they have a problem, that's why most barns have a sign that says "all singles sold as is". some sales they will sell by the head so you can tell your actual costs readily. if you only want a single ask for a "gate cut" of a group, you get the first animal out the gate or find a buyer and negotiate a single purchase from them.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Thanks Rancher.. good things to know.


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## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

I find, that like watching movies with actors that speak in a heavy foreign accent, getting into the flow of things at the auction barn takes some time each time I go. What I have been doing lately is watching some of the live feeds on the Internet. Doing so with a recent market report in front of me helps me to anticipate what the sale price is going to be near, which really helps to cut through the auctioneer-ese in a hurry. Ive learned quite a bit more of the vocabulary this way. Because there always seems to be a live feed somewhere, you can get a crash course pretty well that way.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

Some auctioeers might as well be speaking a foreign language, cannot tell what is being said. Others are fine.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Yeah.. I forgot I've watched a few of those auctions on TV... would be flipping through and see them so I'd stop and watch a while.. .

I've done all kinds of auctions for years and years, so I seldom have a hard time understanding what's happening and where the bid is, but with some, like cattle and livestock, since I've never been involved, I didn't pay much attention to the terms and wording they used, so I didn't get the prices... 

After we move, I'm sure I'll be going to a few auctions though... we do plan on some food on hoof for the place..


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## manolito (Apr 7, 2013)

I would ask around your local area and find aranch that has a cow and calf operation. Contact them and ask if they would sell a single calf at weaning to you. 

Two thing happen you meet a new friend and you won't have to count your fingers. Any time you want to buy think about where those cows are going and why is the person selling this time of year when the grass is greening and weight gain is to be made. 

Just my thoughts on auctions. 

Respectfully,
Bill


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## Rosarybeads (Oct 21, 2004)

Yeah, we've gotten some good deals at auctions but they have always been mixed in with some real problems. I think overall you end up spending MORE for the problems mixed in. Not to mention that on our old farm we gave CAE to our healthy sheep by getting goats, etc... so I'm not sure it's worth it. I find Craigslist works pretty well to find stuff and you can also find decent deals. Just be careful to ask lots of questions, etc... As an example, we bought some goats and we had one we named Giselle because she was like a Gazelle sailing over our 5 ft fences, another that wouldn't produce milk for her babies or take care of them; and the third female was a great Nubian... great mama and had triplets but looking back, her bag DEFINITELY had mastitis at some point. She was the only one worth it, but even she had previous issues obviously.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Around most of Michigan, most cattle farmers sell everything through the Livestock Auctions. So, every healthy feeder steer and every cull dairy cow is sold at auction. The good, bad and ugly. Its a myth that only animals with problems are auctioned, but some do. Many areas have guys that truck cattle. They pick up from a few farms, go to the auction and sometimes are asked to bring something back. Around here, there aren't many dairy cattle and few hogs. I might ask the trucker if he'd be on the lookout for some finished hogs, 240 to 300 pounds. I tell him what price I'd pay and he looks and bids. If the price goes high, I don't get any pigs. If low, I pay him when he delivers them. Might serve some of you new to farming, to enlist in the help of a trucker to pick you up something healthy.


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## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

Rosarybeads said:


> Yeah, we've gotten some good deals at auctions but they have always been mixed in with some real problems. I think overall you end up spending MORE for the problems mixed in. Not to mention that on our old farm we gave CAE to our healthy sheep by getting goats, etc... so I'm not sure it's worth it. I find Craigslist works pretty well to find stuff and you can also find decent deals. Just be careful to ask lots of questions, etc... As an example, we bought some goats and we had one we named Giselle because she was like a Gazelle sailing over our 5 ft fences, another that wouldn't produce milk for her babies or take care of them; and the third female was a great Nubian... great mama and had triplets but looking back, her bag DEFINITELY had mastitis at some point. She was the only one worth it, but even she had previous issues obviously.


I thought Sheep could not contract CAE that they are more likely to have OPPV. I raise dairy goats so CAE is a big deal to me but I was under the impression that Sheep and Goats are not actually closely enough related to pass species specific diseases back and forth. Just as it is exceptionally rare to get a goat/sheep hybrid. 

I am new to the idea of buying at animal auctions myself so I am reading to get advice... especially in regards to reading those reports-- I am having trouble making heads or tails of them.


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## manolito (Apr 7, 2013)

Haypoint thanks for the information it is funny how different things are in different parts of the country. 

The trouble with learning is it is built on bad decisions. I have made my fare share of them. Do dairy herds sell off the day old calfs? Around here the cost is way up over the last coupld of years.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

day old dairy bull calves are the most common. You may see heifer calves but the ratio is pretty low.
I can sit and watch the bull calves go through for a couple of hours, then for the last 10 minutes its heifers.....

Most auctioneers are hard to understand because they have a lot of cattle to push through the ring and don't have time to slow down for the newbies. The buyers are there every day all day and know the patter. 
If you plan on buying from the sales barn do yourself a favor and visit it a few times to so you understand the auctioneer(s), and don't be afraid to bother a buyer or some old timer if you have a question. Most times they will fill you in.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

manolito said:


> Haypoint thanks for the information it is funny how different things are in different parts of the country.
> 
> The trouble with learning is it is built on bad decisions. I have made my fare share of them. Do dairy herds sell off the day old calfs? Around here the cost is way up over the last coupld of years.


In Michigan we have what are called Dutch Dairies. Large numbers of cows on a small plot of ground and all they do is milk. They contract for daily deliveries of high quality feed. Pay to pump manure on neighboring fields, buy soon to freshen heifers and sell all their calves at auction. They focus on milk production and do a good job. They come from Holland with lots of dairy experience.
But that does two things. It creates a huge demand for bred heifers and puts a ton of calves into the auction market. Some guys understand what it takes to keep a calf alive and growing. They make their living buying healthy week old heifers and selling bred, close up (soon to calve) heifers.
I'd expect the huge Calif. Dairies would do the same.
One Michigan dairy ships all their young heifers to a farm in Texas to grow them and ships them back before they calve.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

OP, if a cow goes through the auction as "Boner" grade, you probably do not want to buy her as a breeding animal. Those are cows that have been marked for slaughter, and for a reason.

If your auction has a vet on call (and many auctions do) the cows are preg checked before they are sold and any cow with reproductive tract damage is marked for slaughter sale only. Most of the "boner" grade cows are in extremely poor condition, many are old, none of them are good keepers.

There will be a system of marks put on the cow's hips in grease pen by the vet. Those marks all mean something and you can find out what, so that you can have some information about the animal in teh ring. 

Cows will be marked pregnant or open. The auctioneer will normally announce very clearly that an animal is to be sold for slaughter only, but pay attention.

Auctioneers are generally very jealous about their reputation and go to extremes to protect it. They won't get work if the public decides they are crooked. However, it is the buyer's responsibility to learn how the system works.


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