Grassfarmer Do you figure panoka is better

[ALLFARMER]

Just wondering what guys think about Panoka and Westlock auction marts, is it worth trucking the further distance south to Panoka? I would like to sell by TEAM but do not have an even liner load to ship.

[grassfarmer]

Can't really advise on that Allfarmer as we don't use Ponoka or Westlock. I know VJV pull a lot of cattle out of that north country/BC. I suspect most of these independent markets have their own strengths and weaknesses. There is one outfit I wouldn't consider under any circumstances and you can probably guess who that is. Gets too dodgy for me when the auctioneer is also the owner, buyer and financier of the cattle.

[ALLFARMER]

Completely agree, just have to move my winter feeders out in the next month or so. I should try to build a load to for TEAM but that could be allot of fooling around.

[RShields]

Does anyone on here sell at Provost.
Who owns that market?

[grassfarmer]

Provost is another mafia, oops I mean Nilsson operation.

[ALLFARMER]

My cousin is an auctioneer/fieldmen at
Provost. Actually a decent guy but ya in with the Mafia.

[smcgrath76]

Most here use Vermilion, but Viking is
growing pretty quickly and gaining a good
reputation. Veteran has treated us well
the last few years.

[mcfarms]

I've seen less than full loads sold on the team quitge often. Have done it myself , biggest thing is uniformity of lot in my mind. If you are shipping them to a market will you be calling a liner yourself and paying for less then a full load? hen the cost per pound will be teh same as selling them over teh team to someone who will factor that in.

[Ruken]

I once listened to a cattle dealer speaking at the Western Grazing Conference. He spoke of positive freight, meaning that cattle end up south and transport costs are reflected in the cattle prices as you go south. My observation is that the N. marts do get aggressive prices compared to others. I'd have no problem selling them in one of those. The other options with TEAM is to make your delivery date flexible so a buyer can add your cattle to other cattle on a trip through. The other option is to sell them off of the yard delivered to an assembly location with a flexible date. The buyer perceives potential by these terms and bids them in whether they actually materialize or not. (which then becomes his issue after the sale) My thoughts on this...

[lnewman]

If you are worried about auction markets ,I sell my
calves direct to feedlot .ie Western feedlot , They
come out look at them give you a quote You can
negotiate freight shrink ect. You know roughly what
their worth . If you don't like the quote your not out
trucking and labour. I have gotten 3 sealed bids to
start , now i have a good relationship and trust and
may only need one . Shrink is very costly .