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