? about auctions

Erin: I'm sure you are right, there are probably some who I wouldn't have buy anything for me, however I do personally know a couple who I would trust anyday to buy for me. That said, I still do my own buying. I figure if I get a bad buy, there is no one to blame but myself.

Crash, you might check for any local ag papers that print sale barn results on a weekly basis. Around here "the Grass and Grain" and "The Highplains Journal" are a couple that all the sale barns advertise in and print weekly sale results with weights and prices.

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* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

I have been looking for local cattle magazines, papers, newsletters and such, but no luck so far ... any ideas?

You're probably not going to find much in the way of private sales. That's just not really done...

Your best bet is to head to the local sale barn on auction day. Get a cup of coffee at the cafe and go watch.
Do this every week for a while if you can. Better yet, sit near the guys that are there every week (probably order buyers!) and just pay attention. Start going through the pens first and then watching the sale. And every sale barn I've ever seen has only had cat walks above the pens.

But you're just getting a feel for how it works and what you're looking at. Don't even THINK about buying for a few months.
See if you can find out who the vet is for the sale barn. Most of them, even the really big ones, just hire a local guy. Then buddy up to the vet and let him know your plans. You'll need a vet anyway, so might as well make those connections.

They don't usually do a full physical or anything. Just preg. check.
But a good vet will usually be able to tell you if he's see some promising cows in pen 14 or if you just want to steer clear of them...
He might cooperate. He might not. You never know until you start talking to people.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Don't know what "local" is to you, so take your pick:

http://www.newslink.org/aznews.html

Or if you're interested in a particular breed, most associations have their magazines, sale info and membership online.

I agree with ksfarmer, order buyers have their place, and have been around along time. And there are good ones and bad ones, but I don`t like the " Horse Trader" idea that Erin has talked about. My grandfather was a horse trader, and I don`t like how you described them. You really have to know what you are doing as a newbie at a livestock auction. You can get caught up in the auction madness, and buy something you didn`t really want, or pay more for it than you wanted to. Hope this helps some,>Thanks Marc

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Our Diversified Stock Portfolio: cows and calves, alpacas, horses, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, cats ... and a couple of dogs...
http://springvalleyfarm.4mg.com

great idea about "visiting" the sales barn ...

don't have the cash for fencing yet, so the NO PURCHASE thingy is easy

I was looking more for local = Arizona AG/Ranching related media, but thanks for the news links...

gettin' caught up right now will not be an issue, as cash is tight ...

I've bought from auctions and got "burned" as well as individuals. The thing about it is, when you buy any animal at any place you don't truly know it's history. I realize that when buying private treaty you can have a foreknowledge of the seller's animal husbandry skills and ethics. However, on the flip side, if you buy it at the salebarn you do have the vet check for pregnancy and any other thing that is very obvious. As well, at the sale barn you can sometimes get a pretty good look at the animal's nerves. I realize they get hot-shotted, buggy whipped, and yelled at for hours sometimes preceding entrance into the ring, so I use this as an opportunity to see if the animals is snorting snot and flinging hooves at the ring attendant when they come in. Any animal that has the wild eye about her doesn't get bid on by me no matter how good she's made up. (I could be her next opportunity to kick or ram next time she gets worked.)

On the issue with cattle buyers, horse traders, and order buyers, I think they all three come in different sizes, shapes, and attitudes. (there's honest and dishonest in any profession.) I personally don't care for letting someone else make my decisions for me but sometimes it's neccessary if I can't make it to a far off sale and am interested in some stock there.

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Francismilker

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16

lol!
I assure you, I did not invent the term "horse trader" as a way of referring to someone with questionable business practices.

For that matter, I have several friends and family members who are self-professed "horse traders." (as in, buyers and seller of horses) And each of them will tell you that title with a wink and a smile. Because it's an old joke.
Mostly.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

http://www.willcoxlivestockauction.com/
http://www.maranastockyards.com/

Crash: Don't know where in Arizona you are but here are a couple of salebarn websites. You also might check out some of the internet auctions to gain a little familiarity with auctions.

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* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

thanks ksfarmer ...

how did you find those, and don't say google ...

Yep, just googled "Arizona livestock auction"

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* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

I did the same thing and got a bunch of junk sites and links to yellow book type site, etc ...

ETA:
nevermind, I'm a greenhorn ... it was my search terms ... arizona cattle sale barn
yours work fine ... thanks

it's a good thing I'm broke, or I'd be in trouble at the "sale barn" ...

Have a friend that used to do a little order buying his biggest problem with customers was communication. Often times what they told him to buy and what they wanted wasn't the same thing.

Crash test ranch the best thing to do is spend time at the auctions and get to know some of the regulars and pick their brains about the cattle.

Crashtestranch

sounds like you have a bug in your computer, I had the same problem and updated my virus program and got rid of it.

I like to just go and watch. Usually sit close enough to "overhear" or even just outright ask the old timers any questions I may have. They are usually more than helpful. Our regular Saturday sale has so many regulars I feel like I know them. Kind of the place to go to talk cows for some of these retired and semi-retired folks.
We can go wander around and look at the different pens before the sale, but unless you keep really good notes it's hard to tell which ones you were interested in when they come through the ring.
Like ErinP, the sale barn is pretty much the game in town for buying and selling any livestock.

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http://mmsmiracle.com/EnjoyBetterHealth

That is excellent, sound advice.