rkaiser

[coppertop]

Congratulations on a great sale Randy !
That hard work, good cattle and good old fashioned BS paid off.

[rkaiser]

Thank you Maam. We are quite happy with the sale and looking forward to the next one.

[catlman]

I saw the sale results on team. I breed a less prominant breed but how do you make money selling $800 2yr old bulls. Are they fall borns? I need double that to make money on yearlings sold privately. With calalogue costs and other sale expenses how do you make a profit from the $800 bull? Maybe my math is bad or we develope bulls differently but i can't see how it is worth while selling $800 bulls.

[grassfarmer]

Catlman, the $800 bulls were cheap but they balance the $7500 ones to make an average. We are getting into selling two year old bulls too and I'd be quite happy with Randy's average. I can get that for a few bulls now but I'm not selling 37 a year. It takes courage and good bulls to hold a real bull sale like this with no "dodgy deals" and buybacks to boost the average. Forage raised bulls with none of the grain packing and showing crap don't cost much to rear. Why should they cost any more than a 2 year old heifer to rear? I bet you'd say you were getting great money if you got $2600 for a bred heifer.

[catlman]

I guess if you work on the average with the high dollar bull it works but. I have sold in the ring and off the yard the last couple of years. while i don't have the high dollar bull neither do i have that low of a bottm i guess we'll see when my bull pens are completely empty i'll do an average gross and net and see where i fit. My average i expect to be at that $2300 but that is on mainly on yearlings. An i am happy with that. I know this cattle business is not a get rich quick thing. But in my operation i need to profit on every animal i can, so i cut very hard in the bull pen and it is starting to pay off. When i sell cattle they sell. I have been finding more cattlemen coming in and not fussing over my prices, i can move a bit on volumes but in my local market guys are finding out my bulls are working stock and they don't seem to fuss much on my prices.

[rkaiser]

Here is my philosphy catlman. I grow my yearling bulls on momma and then hay. Then back on grass. By their second fall, I can identify every animal that will make a bull. Not only in my herd, but in any herd of commercial cows in Canada. These animals are no longer culls. Now I take my gamble. Can I put enough cattelmen in my stands on sale day, because I am selling every damn bull to the highest bidder. My buyers decide. No games. Eyeball to eyeball bids and a few from the internet. This year I did not have enough buyers. Too many folks thinking that Angus is better I guess. More advertising money than good old Randy I say. Plus the fact that those Pri*&^s at Cargill and Tyson keep screwing with the border and my American customers.

Anywhoo. every bull sold, and every bull will sell again next year. Every BULL. These bulls will do every new owner proud, and will raise him cattle that will work as good or better than calves from any other bull he will buy.

Yes grasasfarmer, it's about averages, but it's also about building business, I'm only 46 years old, and I guarantee you that if Cargill doesn't smoke my cowherd with some chemical cloud, I will be here when I am 66. Don't think it will take that long to build a customer base with nothing but honesty and integrity.

Just my way of figuring it out catlman, but thanks for the pity on the $800.00 BULLS just the same.

[rkaiser]

Just one example of an $800.00 Kaiser Bull. Birth Weight 100 (too high for my guys) Hip height at almost 2 years 55 inches (again a bit tall)Sale day weight at almost 2 years - 1600 and 37cm s.c. (too low for our average)I did not ultasound this particular bull, but I would call him close to our average of 4.6 marbling and 6 mm of back fat. Our average %lean meat yield was almost 65% and I would estimate this bull to be above our average. Feet never trimmed and he walks out like a cat.

Should I have culled this bull and give him to Cargill or one of the gang for $600 catlman? Or do you think the fellow can find a use for him and come back for another $2000.00 bull next year?

[cowman]

Congratulations Randy on a good sale! Hard work and lots of promotion usually pays off! And that doesn't have to mean a lot of advertizing but getting out and selling YOURSELF and your program!
The $800 bull thing? I'll tell you this...sometimes you eat it a bit...but who knows how much goodwill you build down the road? Now maybe the boy who bought the $800 dollar bull was young and broke....will he always be that way?
Or maybe he was some old cheapskate who was just looking for a "cow freshiner"! If the bull works for him he might be back with a few more bucks in his pocket, or he might tell the neighbors what a good deal he got!
Look at the $800 bull as advertizing! No...you can't sell a bull for $800...but seriously...when you put his calves up against the $7500 bull's calves....what will be the difference? Will the $7500 bull justify his cost...he might...and he might not!
Old purebred saying "Sell the best...get rid of the rest!"? But reality is, how does anyone really know? I've bought bulls for big money that were utter dogs...and I've kept bulls that weren't much to look at that beat just about every AI bull out there!
For me his momma tells me what he will do...it usually works?
Anyway again, congrats, you are on the right path.

[cswilson]

Was talking to my neighbor who bought a pair of bulls at Randy's sale-he said if hadn't already filled his quota that bull sure wouldn't of bought $800 bucks. I guess the ringworms could of bid him back at $2000 and everybody would of been happier.

[grassfarmer]

You can sometimes be surprised how bulls breed Cowman, even the best stockmen can miss a gem. I remember Galloway breeders in Scotland that always had the most sought after bulls. One year they had this undersized 2 year old with lop sided testicles that they wouldn't have dreamt of putting in the Sale. They sold him instead to a small breeder with about 18 cows for a third of the bull sale average and he went on to be a great bull - easily the best bull off straight Scottish bloodlines in 30 years ,weighing over 2200lb as a mature bull. His sons topped the sales for several years and every major breeder bought a herdsire off him.

[cswilson]

Now grassfarmer tell me why a 2200 pound Highland bull with lopsided nuts would be a breed marvel and the toast of Scotland. Isn't he an example of breeders rushing to the extreme of a breed.I thought Highland were small hardy efficient cattle not enormous hairy beggars with balls that don't match. If extremes are a sin in the more popular breeds they still are in the fringe breeds.

[grassfarmer]

CS, he was a Galloway bull not a Highland. He was needed at the time to counter a breed that had gone into terminal decline due to getting overly small. Since then the breed has imported lots of Canadian genetics to increase size. Many Galloway steers were unable to be fattened or weigh 400kg(880lb)live at 30 months. You can get too small to be economic too, thus you need a "corrective factor".

[cswilson]

Thanks for the clarification-that might make some sense-sure alot easier to just stay in the middle-then the size pendulum hits you on the way up and the way down. You could make a million bucks if you had a tank full of dwarfy little british cattle right now. What's the odds of we see bulls being promoted as 'frame improvers' within 3-4 years lol.

[rkaiser]

Thanks for the support on them 800 dollar bulls guys - especially you cowman. Was sure nice to meet your son up at our sale. Too bad he didn't get himself a bull, but maybe next year. Don't worry cownman, your identity is still a secret with me!!!!

[rkaiser]

Just a little follow up on the 800 dollar bulls. I encourage entreprenuership (is that a word?). I want folks at my sale who think they can make a buck by supporting me.

One of the 800 dollar bulls has already changed hands twice. The fellow who bid at the sale paid for his gas and more before he left the stands by selling the bull to the fellow below him for a 100 dollar profit. This next fellow has found a new home for the bull already and has not revealed his price to me. He wears a halo, but rather loosely. LOL

I needed those guys at my sale or I may have had to dig down to 600 bucks to sell the bull.

They get my program, and will be back; and they are more than welcome, along with any other entrpreneur who figures out what I am up to, and spreads my Damn Good Bulls around the country for more prospective customers to see.