COMMERCIAL BRED HEIFERS SOLD AT AGRIBITION REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

[SADIE]

CANADIAN WESTERN AGRIBITION 2011 commercial bred heifers----12 pens of 10 & 21 pens of 5 bred heifers were on offer at this sale.

Details should be on line for results. Average price approx $1625.00 with late selling pens of 5 selling up to $2300.00 each. Large crowd and interest from across Western Canada.

Shuld reset the tone to the cow dispersals to sell across the country.

[ALLFARMER]

Calf prices have been high for not even a year
and this is what people want to pay? Pretty
confident....be wary when others are greedy be
greedy when others are wary.

[smcgrath76]

No prices up yet. Those bred heifers are
bigger than my cows. I know most of those
herds and they are good cattle though as
far as fit/form/structure is concerned,
they just wouldn't fit our way of doing
things.
Nice to see some optimism.

[SADIE]

SMcGrath---Westman's had about 40 head in that sale. They were reserve champion pen bringing $1675.00. Their other pens sold up to $1900.. for their Sim/Her cross pen. I do know they were very active in buying about 40 head of open replacements paying up to $1170 per head for some Her/angus.

Westman's won Farm Fair in Edmonton it was in the producer with that top pen bringing $1700 in Edmonton two weeks ago. They still have a few hundred to sell in Vermillion about Dec 8 or so correct?

MC Quantock bred heifer sale in Lloyd is on the 10th of Dec with about 700 bred heifers as you know lots of cross genetics, something for everyone.--They phoned here and liked the agribition results.

Little Willow Creek Ranch has about 200 breds to sell Dec 9th. Semi Her F1s and Semi Angus F1s---- Thats just a few sales in your area SMGrath.

auction market attendees were present with concern with all their herd dispersals to sell yet before the end of the year.

Like you mentioned at the bottom there is a "Tone of Optimism in the industry"

Financial institutions were well represented as sponsors and in the crowd as well. I have seen alot of "non optimistic" years at that sale in the past 10 years.

[smcgrath76]

Westman's is coming up, Not sure when the
willow sale is and MC is on the 10th. Too
bad they sell at the auction mart. Never
liked going or bringing cattle home out of
there. We are always concerned about
disease.
MC has some cows that might fit our
operation. Some of the others not so
much, but I hope they do well.

[farmers_son]

Maybe I am just jaded and cynical but I was raised to take some of the prices that "name" breeders get for their cattle at some of these sales, like Agribition, with a grain of salt. Maybe it is a real price, maybe they had people bidding the cattle up. Maybe the cattle found a new home, maybe they went home. You never really know.

There is a fine line between marketing/promotion and BS. Whether it is cattle or automobiles more often than not it is BS.

[SADIE]

smcgrath 76----IMHO and experience.

1)IF you have a good vaccination herd health program animals coming from these types of operations are also well vaccinated and come home with very little problems.

2)What happens at Regina CWA commercial pens of bred heifers. Great networking and seeing what direction the industry appears to be heading. There is representaton of something for almost all tastes.

Pens are put into classes according to weights.

eg: 761 Sire: Black Angus Dam Black Angus Cross with exposed date July 20-Sept 21/11 Black Angus Bull. Calving dates April 28-June 30. Av Weight 991lbs

Sold for lower price in the sale, This isn't my type but maybe that is Allfarmer's animal type. You meet the producer and find out he runs 800cows and has more at home to sell if interested.

This group didn't place, no price money and a first time shower. Price dictates if they come back or not. As you know it is not cheap to go on the road.

3)At shows condition sells. People appear to purchase according to condition.

The high priced pen of 5 sold late in the sale. Regular contributor--had a pen of 10 similar, lighter that sold earlier in the sale for $1750.00

Those were Sire Simmental on Red angus dam. To calve Jan/Feb weight 1131lbs. Dark red with Chrome. These have regular buyers especially the Charolais Breeders that have commercial herds. Several buyers (regular you meet) are old PMU operations that have barns for winter calving. They also are grain operators that want calving out of the way early.

Pen of 5 Red Angus bull on Simm cow, weight 1263---They will be big cows. Calving Jan/Feb. They were classy appearance lots of condition. Two guys hooked on this pen after the rapid bidding reached $1800 and took it to record heights at $2300.00 In the barns afterwards buyers and sellers of course meet and between the two parties another 60 to 80 were sold still at the farm to both of them. --Lower price approx $1700.00. Both operators are grain farmers, good crops this year and barns with cameras.

Summary: Each of us has a different eye for the cattle we want. There will be lots of soft spots this fall in the sale barns it is a matter of how much time can anyone spend sitting and waiting and not getting other work done at home. Sometimes the end of sales get very soft to the point they quit and sometimes the sale gets hotter (more buyers than cattle on offer).

Kato's hubby appears to have mastered that type of game.

[SADIE]

Farmers-son

I just saw your post. I have been involved at these sales now for over 15 years. I know alot of the major regular producers now. I sit on the fall fair committee in Saskatoon where it is smaller and a pen of 3. This fall in Saskatoon we had new contributors on the bred pens and they were cautioned to "protect themselves" in the ring and yes there was a fewer lower priced pens that did not make what they thought they should. Some sold as a buy back (unknown during the sale). The reputation guys and the top pens have been very cautious and have taught me. You try that once and get caught you are screwed.

The cross bred pens are what regular customers wait for especially the F1 hybrid vigor. Regular clients become family.

The purbred game I believe might be more your comment Farmers Son.

I am in the open heifer game selling in the spring. I did sell in the fall and took the hits and find spring much better. My clients know I do not touch the bidding.

Smmgrath knows my herd because he knows where I source my Breds each year. There are so many available from that producer each year and he has regular clientelle waiting. Buy a pen and you get a chance at more off the farm at his farm price. Tough to find some of those crosses to keep a herd uniform.

[grassfarmer]

Agreed F_S, the BS of the show ring and their fake values have little relevance to real world producers. Still if guys want to have a hobby....

[SADIE]

I guess I have a hobby selling breeding stock not all butchers and on the rale.

Are we not still raising beef and utilizing land and converting forage to protein?

Always a clown on a thread Grassy. We are all used to that.

[smcgrath76]

For those who know me, I am definitely
not a fan of the show ring, however I am
a fan of people in general and shows are
a great way to get a lot of cattle
people together. Of all the shows I get
to/have to go to in the course of my
work, I will say that I do enjoy the
commercial show at Agribition the best.
There are some pretty functional cattle
there from regular farms and ranches.
My comments about cattle that fit a
system were not intended to disrespect
anyone's cattle, I just know the cattle
that work here and they don't generally
show up at shows or fit what judges are
looking for in the show ring where
somewhat larger framed cattle tend to do
better.

[smcgrath76]

And I agree with Sadie about condition. A
very wise old PB breeder told me once the
best colour to have when you are selling a
bull is "fat".

[grassfarmer]

Sadie, to be clear it was the show part I was referring to as a hobby not people selling bred or open females.

[farmers_son]

Yes fat sells.

These "name" operations are using purebred sales techniques to market commercial cattle. And their big sales will easily gross over $1 million. Their promotional efforts, and they spend a lot on promotion, are directed towards their big sales and as such Agribition is promotional effort. I believe it is naive to think they would sit back and let their "commercial" cattle go for ordinary prices at Agribition and then have that price known country wide. Yes they are screwed if they get caught jacking up the price of their cattle. That is why they are careful to not get caught.

[SADIE]

A thankyou comment to both Smmcgrath and to grassfarmer. I posted this recent agribition action the Bred Heifer Sale for all agrivillers to see. Allfarmer I believe is in the northern Alberta area. I believe your type is blacks. The Agribition website shows all entries, names of contributer, sire breed and dam bred, weights and breeding dates.

The showing of calves and selling of calves at these show and sales is almost a dead issue now. The market on record seems to slump in Nov and there is not enough entry anymore to attract order buyers when there is issues of trucking, diesel shortage or whatever excuse.

Saskatoon post Fall fair is this Friday and a reality check will be made. Agribition is doing some hard searching also on why their numbers are gone.

COST/ No Price Premium and hobby is right.

I do believe that these will become just a Bulls showing event, and Bred Heifer Sales in the near future.

SmMcgrath--LW is on Dec 9 (Friday)---McQuontock is on Dec 10 and I believe Westmans is just before that in Vermillion.

Can I meet up with you at LW for a coffee Sean?