A Transfer Portal Like No Other
Mates,
We farm. We do livestock and some row crops. If I was farming full time, I'd be selling livestock full time. I'd be at she-she restaurants or farmers markets telling would-be buyers how great our livestock is: grass fed, no hormones, steroids, vaccines, pesticides, herbicides or ohio state grads. It's bouquet type beef, lamb and chicken, but sometimes you have more than you need and it's time to move some livestock. Today was that day. In rural areas you have regular weekly auctions for livestock and other farm-type products. You can buy hay, various types of chickens or turkeys, and all manner of cows (beef or dairy), swine, sheep, lambs and goats. But it's not like a grocery store where you always know which brand or make or size is available. The offerings are highly variable. Also, sometimes you are there to sell, sometimes to buy. Let's talk about both.
IF YOU ARE SELLING
If you are there to sell things you get there early and unload your trailer at the auction barn. They have folks there to run that part of the unloading. If you are auctioning something like hay you will unload in a designated area outside. If it's livestock, there is an entrance that leads to a huge barn that is in reality a giant ever-changing maze of iron gates. The animals are unloaded and directed through the maze to the various holding pens. Getting there early can be a good thing because you want as many potential buyers as possible to have a chance to look at your animals. You will register at the office and your animals will be given a number that corresponds to you/your farm. Folks will walk the catwalk above the animals to observe pre-auction and figure out what they might want to bid on, and maybe what they might want to bid.
They give you/your livestock a number so that when it's sold, they will know who gets the money simply be referencing the number. Auctions will do the paperwork and cut you a check in minutes after your livestock is sold. You go to the office, pick up your money, and off you go.
IF YOU ARE BUYING
If you are buying, it's pretty fun to go to an auction. First, you don't know exactly what will be for sale so there is the element of surprise. Second, the price for whatever it is that you're looking for is not written in stone. So, while you certainly can end up priced out of a deal, you can also do very well depending on your specific needs. You will need to register to buy anything and you will be recognized by your number or sometimes by the initials of your farm or company.
THE ACTUAL AUCTION
The auction itself is like nothing you've ever done or seen, unless of course you've been to one. First, it is held in something that looks like movie theatre seating in a barn.
The animals are weighed before they come in and the weight is displayed on a screen for all the buyers to see. The smaller animals can be sold in smaller groups as shown below, not just individually. The animals are sold by the pound either in the way we are used to seeing, say $2.50/lb or by what is called the 'hundred weight'. Hundred weight means for instance, if a particular breed/animal is listed at, say, $75 per hundred lbs of weight, and that means the cost is actually 75 cents per pound.
And the auctioneer, hoooooo-boy, the auctioneer. To say that their speech is fast is like saying winning the National Championship was, you know, okay. Those guys are talented and I can't imagine the number of Red Bulls it takes to do that for hours. That part of a typical auction will go on for 4-5 hours. I am sorry that I don't know how to embed, but if you want to listen to less than a minute of what it looks and sounds like, here is a link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqFcTD-z39w
So as that auctioneer races through some version of the English language and alpha-numeric figures, you raise your hand if he hits one you are willing to pay. There will be other folks working with the auctioneer and they will point out or sometimes call out the figure that was agreed to. Example (this would happen at lightning speed) might go something like, "I got five, i got five, i got five, who'll give me five-fifty? Five-fifty! Who'll give me six!, Do I hear six?!" and on it goes. Eventually the auctioneer will end with something like, 'Sold for $5.50 to number three-0-nine'.
And that is how livestock hit the transfer portal. Cash is paid, trailers are pulled up to the barn, animals are herded to the proper place, and commerce is conducted.
It is a transfer portal like no other, a true slice of life. If you've never been to one, go. You won't regret it. And who knows, maybe you'll itch your nose when a steer is up for auction and a spotter will point you out as having made a bid. Call me if that happens. We'll hook a trailer up to a truck and come get it for you.
XM
March 27th, 2024 at 10:16 PM ^
Darn it, the pictures didn't come through. Here is a barn, pre-sale, with folks walking and looking at the prospective purchases:
And here is that theatre-like seating in a barn setting:
Here is an example of the weights shown as an average weight for the group that is in the auction ring
Hopefully that all makes sense now.
March 27th, 2024 at 10:39 PM ^
No pics? No worries! It's all good. We've all had our moments. 😉 Thanks for the post and the info!
Edit/add: site might have been experiencing technical issues...
March 27th, 2024 at 10:40 PM ^
I think you need to have those young basketball/football players that live with you help ol' farmer XM with embedding photos.
Here's theatre seating in the ancient greek style. They play chamber music as the heifers stroll in front of the podium.
March 27th, 2024 at 10:54 PM ^
...and here's a nifty barn
Okay smarty pants, now take a look.
So there.
Many years ago, I attended a horse "dispersal" auction for the first time. I was there for one specific animal. The owner was very kind, recognized my lack of experience in the matter and hooked me up with a specific guy signaling the bids to the auctioneer.
He instructed me to call his name when my animal walked into the ring, then look directly at him and raise my hand to bid.
Got outbid on that horse by a man named Hanes Chatham. Like in Hanes underwear. I was never really in the bidding, was the only guy in the building that didn't know it.
that's a bummer re: fake bidding. pretty sure that's a criminal offense for the folks that hoodwinked you like that. there are licensing boards and some specific statutes, i would imagine in every state, that would take a very hard look at that.
for what it's worth, word is that hanes bought an old nag who went to the glue factory....
March 28th, 2024 at 12:48 PM ^
No, no. You missed the point. the bidding was real and so was Mr. Chatham. The issue was financial, his resources were for purposes of acquiring horses at this auction, bottomless. Mine were ... not. He was gonna buy any horse he felt like he wanted. I never had a chance and didn't have a clue until the party after.
March 28th, 2024 at 12:42 PM ^
Every year my uncle brings his herd back down to about 20 head. That means loading up all the extra calves and cows and steer for auction.
Oh, but one steer always stays behind. He will self-select by being the biggest asshole during the loadup process. This steer lives a good life for a couple more months: extra food, extra field time, generally being left alone.
Then he becomes steak. Mmm steak.
Sorting cattle can be dangerous business. Yesterday there was one huge and ornery Cow, maybe the biggest cow I’ve ever seen. She was looking to tangle with whoever would get in her way. The yard guys were more like rodeo clowns, climbing up on the gates to get out of her way.
Sounds peri-menopausal 😉
Thanks for the great illustration, never been to one. All my experience is with car auctions, so I do have a question - can you set a reserve? So, potentially go back home with your livestock if no one 'ponies' up? (sorry that was too easy)
Good question. Don’t know the answer but my guess is no unless there is some very special designation, or a special animal such as a very valuable horse.
Yes.
It's usually provided for in the contract between the sale company and the auction house.
With horses, particularly "bloodstock" as they like to call it, it is frequently a selected option within the contract. Hay, cattle and other livestock, I'm guessing less so.
The higher quality the animal, the more likely you are to see a reserve. I attended an on line auction recently where a very nice horse didn't hit the reserve price. I have decently reliable information that the seller had a buyer with whom he had a long standing relationship that had agreed to pay the price set by the market at that auction, along with the seller's commission to the auction house. I do think that, that was kind of shitty.
I just wanna know what you do to those who you catch cow tipping on your property.
I've heard that cows are notoriously bad tippers.
But good tipplers.
Though that drinking does leave them prone to tipping over.
That picture looks a lot like the livestock auction near the West Virginia place I go in the summer, though the barn is a bit more dated than the one in your picture.
I attended an auction last summer, and it was interesting -- there were maybe 30 people in the stands, but only about three were doing the buying. The auctioneer was watching those three, and the slightest movement would indicate a bid. The three active bidders didn't bid each other up much ... the bids went two, maybe three deep then the animal was sold. The local farmer guy I was with told me those buyers take the animals and truck them to feed lots in Illinois, or Indiana, or somewhere.
Almost all cows, and black Angus at that. There were some sheep and goats in the barn, but those didn't come to auction in the time I was there.
Great write-up! I love reading this kind of first-hand diary stuff.
Probably a couple hundred folks in attendance yesterday, though of course actual bidders numbered Im guessing a couple dozen, maybe a bit more?
grass fed, no hormones, steroids, vaccines, pesticides, herbicides or ohio state grads.
I see what you did there 😊
I’m curious about the rating services they have there? How do you know you’re getting a real 5* recruit out of that portal?
btw: this post cuts off on my computer right after “If You Are Buying” and doesn’t show any comments or the comments box. It shows fine on my phone, though. Anyone else having this problem?
you really don't know which is the fun of the sale. that's why you walk and inspect. though some auctions are much different and the pedigree, for lack of a better term, is part of the sale.
yes, very funky on a firefox browser, fine on chrome or safari. no idea why that happens. i am merely pawn in the game of life.
March 28th, 2024 at 10:25 PM ^
Well I’m sure the people know that anything coming from the XM farm is 5* quality with a 5* culture to boot!
March 29th, 2024 at 10:20 AM ^
It’s transformational and transactional.
March 31st, 2024 at 10:39 PM ^
Yes, same problem, but having the problem on my phone. Maybe a browser issue?
30 degrees with 15-25 mph winds. Zero flies, zero smell.
but of course, in the summer things change. They keep a pretty tight and clean ship, so to speak, so not a big problem at a place like that.
March 29th, 2024 at 10:47 AM ^
March 30th, 2024 at 10:09 PM ^
This post reminds me … I need to pick up a freezer for the basement and get half cow
March 30th, 2024 at 11:12 PM ^
doc, not sure if you're serious and if you want that 1/2 cow from me, but if so please let me know. would enjoy the chance to meet you.
March 31st, 2024 at 11:52 PM ^
Definitely. Life throws a lot of curveballs so not sure when but ….
would love to come see the farm and get a 1/2 cow. Maybe a whole one if the freezer I will eventually get is big enough
They don’t take up nearly the space you think. You could get one of those small chest freezers at Sams/Costco and put it in your garage.
I need advance notice though. I can’t just conjure up steers, some planning involved.
You do realize you passed up the opportunity to say you'd enjoy the chance to meat him, don't you?
😉
We just filled our 2nd freezer with a quarter cow. I think it's 9 cu ft and it's mostly full. It also has 2 turkeys in it and a few other small items, but we also took the tallow (about 20 lbs) and liver.
Know exactly where you are coming from. My father drove a cattle truck for about 30 years so I pretty much grew up at St Louis and Marion sale barns and my parents actually met at Seiferts sp? Bar at the sale barn in Traverse City. 🐄
plus have done almost 20 years of 4-H auctions both as a member and now as a buyer. Nothing like it. 🍀
Nothing was a surprise. It took some planning though since there were lots of variables. Figure which ones are sold, which ones go to auction, get Scrapee tags for the ones we wanted to auction, coincide an auction day with a day the kids have off and don’t have a game or practice of some sort, borrow and load a big enough livestock trailer, and then off we went.
Sold animals. Bought hay since I had a large empty trailer. my successful bids on the round bales were at a very nice price and it’s not like they won’t get used at some point. We had no second cutting last year b/c it was so dry in June and July.
I was wondering this past week why nobody was concerned about Jim's chickens since I didn't see them at the yard sale. Then I thought why you especially would not be concerned and the answer came with the revelation that these therapy chickens likely each had the names of Bigten coaches and became fewer and fewer as the season progressed. Vanquished shall we say. Musings.
frames? he's dead
day? dead!
petootie? he's a dead man
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