A valuable lesson?

[cowman]

I'd hauled a load of calves into the presort at Innisfail on Sunday for the Monday morning sale. Anyway I couldn't attend the sale due to other committments but the boy was there. He noticed one weight was a fair bit out of whack and was in a lot of eight calves. As soon as the eight entered the ring he could see none of them were our calves. As soon as possible he got hold of one of the marts owners and told him the problem. They both went out and located the pen the lot had been put in. The pen worker ran them by my son and the mart owner and none of the animals ever belonged to us.
The owner of the auction asked my son if he would consider taking an average weight/price of the other calves we brought in? Which certainly solved a tricky situation and a whole lot of trouble for everyone.
The lesson here is: Always be there when they sell. Don't ever rely on anyone to look after your interests as well as yourself!
I have no doubt this was an honest mistake by one of the workers at the mart. The important thing here was the auction mart owner stepped right up and made things right. In my opinion it is things like this that make this one of the very best auctions in the west? Innisfail Auction Mart owned by the Daines family.

[cowman]

good advice. The owners need to not only be at the sale but provide good info on the animals they are selling. At a bred cow sale in west central AB on Saturday, there were no announcements from the Auction Block as to the calving dates or what breed of bull the cows were bred to. None of the owners spoke up and contributed any info to the perspective buyers.
The prices were average, top lot went for $875 for a pen of black third calvers. ( darn blacks again topping the market !!).
Auction markets pay dearly each year for mistakes made in the sorting pens, but if the owner isn't there to ensure that the animals coming into the ring are the ones on their manifest, they stand to lose big time.

[15444]

Similar thing happened to us twice in different years. Pens being shared and workers not reading the lot description to cut out the animals with yellow tags. It was pretty easy for me to recognize the problem as one of the lots of our calves entered the ring with a few black and red tagged calves amongst them. Manager had a couple workers look through the buyer's lots for our animals based on our descriptions during the sale, and was going to run them through at the end of the sale and get the correct weights. The workers found a few of them, but the manager just cut us a cheque based on the average as well.

The calves that weren't ours actually boosted the average weight of ours by a bit (10 lbs?), so the hassle worked out in our favour in the end anyways. I get pretty irritated with the guys who ship and don't come to see their calves being sold. As far as I am concerned, if you can't be there, ship them the next day/week.

Since then we have marked every animal that goes to the market with either a marking pen or a spray can.

[grassfarmer]

I saw some cattle going through Rimbey today that highlights the need to "tell what you sell". Among the calves a few big yearlings heifers came through - 3 at 1400lb, then 3 more 1380lb. These were going dirt cheap as they looked to be either open heifers or heifers out of a feedlot. Then one of the auctioneers thought to ask if anybody knew about the cattle - read out the name and a lady piped up they were hers. When asked she confirmed they had run with a bull but had not been preg checked. The next few pens were a lot dearer as someone thought they were worth more as possible bred heifers!
It is a weakness of your auctions here that the sellers sit back and visit while their cattle get sold. In the UK the farmer will enter the ring with the cattle or enter the auctioneers box depending on the market setup while their cattle are being sold. I liked to be right there in the ring, to answer questions, show the cattle to best advantage and also to hold up opening the exit door if they weren't making enough money.

[Horse]

Grassfarmer I can just see them holding the sale so you could tell all about your calves it just wont happen unless mabey you could get them to have a 2or3 day sale. As for not listing what dates and bulls most times when that happens they are dealer cows or reruns.

[JD4ME]

I've been sitting back reading this thread with growing disbelief I cannot fathom the attitude, yes its the owners that should be sitting there because what do you want for the 100-1400 dollars every 100 head. A company that does its job?? Why is it everytime we as farmers screw up its costing us money but when we pay others to screw up its ok. I'd be saying to these auction boys thats fine I'll take an average and youre going to forgo your commssion because youre not doing anything to earn it around here.
Not a big fan of auction marts they are just another mouth in the chain that I feel has lost its edge and doesn't return what they are costing. If someone in the chain is not raising the value of your product to at least pay his way. Why are you using them??
Ever stop to figure out how much commision you give away on livestock each year, are you making that back in higher prices.........don't accept poor service this industry can't afford it anymore.

[cowman]

Well personally I like the auction system. I've sold them privately before and did quite well but I always figure its better to have many buyers than just one?
I try not to get all bent out of shape if somebody makes a mistake now and then. These things happen and hey nobodies perfect?
I don't begrudge the $12/head commission. I'd rather pay that voluntarily that the $3 for the ABP and the $1.05 for brand inspection that I am FORCED to pay no matter where I sell them! Especially when I don't believe I recieve one iota of value for that cost? In fact as far as the ABP goes I believe my checkoff dollars go to support an organization that works directly against my best interests.

[farmers_son]

I tend to think the auction mart system is handling fewer and fewer calves. In ten years it might be gone.

Retained ownership, electronic marketing, improved marketing skills on the part of the producers all work to reduce the importance of a pure commodity selling vehicle like the auction marts. The RDID tags have quite a bit of potential to track specific traits back to the actual producer of the calf and it is not reaching too far to suggest that 10 years from now calves will be marketed on the basis of specific traits that the feedlot/packer are looking for.

Proven genetics, not presorts may sell our calves in 10 years. Actually I would expect few weaned calved will sold in the years to come, most will be retained. The days of selling weaned calves are drawing to a close.

Producers are going to sharpening their pencils in the years to come and no doubt many are going to question the value they receive for their auction commission when there are options available for selling that offer the advantage of knowing the sale price before the calves leave the farm.

[JD4ME]

I agree F-S I'm much more likely to take the commsiion I would spend and use it to but a EID reader and the scale/tracker and be able to refine my herd and offer buyers a ten year snapshot at my carcass data. Sattellite sales and internet auctions reach a lot farther. There is still a place for the marts but that place is getting smaller just look at the team sales versus what goes through the ring.

[JD4ME]

sorry I need spell check on this site haha. I meant buy an eid reader.
Thanks
Happy marketing

[JD4ME]

horse, I have been at many auction barns where they would ask from the block if the owner was there when a pen of breds came in the ring to inquire what the cows were bred to etc. I have also sold cows the week after I sold their calves and had the average calf weights as well as breeding info on a note attached to my manifest. The auctioneer read the info just when the cows were coming into the ring and it certainly gained me a few dollars for my time.

[greybeard]

I was told by a very knowledgeable feedlot operator that the average for feeder calves was 2.5 trips thru the auction yards. Both sides of the transaction get charged. His point was, the industry can't afford this cost. The calf is only worth whatever it's worth. No value was added. If value is added, then the more times you put it thru, the more it is worth. The retained ownership guy doesn't have that cost deducted, and long term should reap those benefits. The bigger the volume, the more obvious it becomes.
It also depends on how much you buy into all the arm waving and table slapping down on buyers row. I think they are a bunch of "drama queens" putting on a show for the yokels.