unique Cowboy Auction??

[Sir Loin]

unique Cowboy Auction??

But I would never buy a bull sight unseen.
SL

Q. You're getting ready for a pretty big bull and heifer sale in early November. Can you walk me through the planning process? And what's coming under the gavel?

A. We will be selling over 400 18-month-old, forage-tested bulls and over 700 Pharo-influenced heifers on November 5th and 6th in Burlington, Colorado. This will be our biggest fall sale ever.

The bulls we will be selling are 100% foraged-developed and forage-tested – on grass. They have never been shut up in a corral and they have never been fed any grain. Since May they have been rotating through pastures in eleven different herds. We have eight herds within an eight-mile radius of Pharo Cattle Company (PCC) headquarters. We have three more herds on the Rhoades Ranch – 50 miles north of PCC headquarters.

We have to gather these bulls and haul them to PCC headquarters two times prior to the sale – and then again at sale time. This involves three men with a set of portable corrals, a portable loading chute, a four-wheeler and a cattle truck. Most herds can be gathered and hauled in one to two hours. After the first trip, the bulls gather and load very quickly and easily.

In late August, we gather bulls to evaluate, weigh, measure and ultrasound. This gives us the data we need to get started on our sale catalog. In addition to evaluating feet and legs, we look at eyes and testicular development. We also give each bull a score for disposition, fleshing ability, thickness, muscling, masculinity, hair coat and fly resistance. We don't know of anyone else in this business who provides evaluation scores for this many traits. We ultrasound the bulls for back fat thickness, rib eye shape, rib eye size, marbling and tenderness.

Immediately after we evaluate, weigh, measure and ultrasound the bulls, we decide which bulls are not good enough to make the sale and then we set up the sale order for the remaining bulls. This is not an easy task with 400 bulls – but we have found ways to speed up the process. It takes most of the month of September to get our sale catalog ready for the printers. Catalogs will usually be ready to mail by mid-October.

In late September, we gather bulls again to fertility test and video tape, as well as to put in ear tags with lot numbers. Superior Productions sends someone up to do the video taping. This makes it possible for our sale to be broadcast over RFD TV. With our FREE and very Afforda-BULL deliveries, many of our customers prefer to participate in our sale via RFD TV or one of our other two stay-at-home options.

We no longer use an auctioneer with a gavel to sell our bulls and heifers. We use what we call a Cowboy Auction. Every lot has a base price posted in the sale catalog. That is where we start the auction. If a bull comes into the sale ring with a base price of $2500, we ask those interested in that bull at the base price to raise their buyer number. If only one number is in the air, we sell the bull to that buyer number at the base price. If more than one number is in the air, we will gradually increase the price until only one number remains. This has proven to be a very honest, quiet and low-pressure way to market bulls and heifers. Everyone who has participated in one of our unique Cowboy Auctions has enjoyed and appreciated it.

 

[KMacGinley]

Honest? It might be honest if there was no base price.

 

[msscamp]

Honest? It might be honest if there was no base price.

Sounds to me like a production sale, and I don't see where the base price makes the process dishonest, no one is twisting anyone's arm to bid. I can's see where it is any different than someone coming out, looking at our cattle, asking what we are asking for them, and either agreeing (bidding), or refusing (not bidding).

 

[6M Ranch]

I've been to auctions that bid that way, except for the base price. The end result works out the same, just a different way to get there. I've also been to a lot of auctions with base prices. I don't have a problem with it. Saves time. If you know an animal is going to sell for $5k or more, it's dumb to start at $100. The auctions I don't like are the Dutch auctions.

 

[msscamp]

What is a 'Dutch Auction'? That is a new one for me. Thanks!

 

[vs_cattle]

I was thinking the same thing :lol:

 

[ga. prime]

I haven't been to a cowboy auction, but it sounds like a good idea to me.

Sir Loin, you say that you wouldn't buy a bull sight unseen. How does that fit into this?

 

[6M Ranch]

Dutch auction starts out high, say $500, then works it's way down until someone jumps in. Unless you're Ebay, then they work it a little differently. Never saw one with cattle, but I've been to other auctions where this was the format.

 

[msscamp]

Ok. Traditional auction in reverse - I can see why you don't like them. I'm not real excited by the idea, either! :shock:

 

[KMacGinley]

An auction is where people bid against each other for an item. I think people should be able to start where they want to, not where the seller says they must. Auctioneers try to set a base price sometimes by taking phantom bids. I never bid at an auction until I actually see someone bidding. This is the part of the cowboy auction I like. No phantum bids allowed except the phantom bid by the owner... the base price. I would never bid at an auction with a base price. I would let the owner keep his bull at the base price, like I have seen a couple of "Colonels" get caught with no real bidder.

 

[WORANCH]

An auction is where people bid against each other for an item. I think people should be able to start where they want to, not where the seller says they must. Auctioneers try to set a base price sometimes by taking phantom bids. I never bid at an auction until I actually see someone bidding. This is the part of the cowboy auction I like. No phantum bids allowed except the phantom bid by the owner... the base price. I would never bid at an auction with a base price. I would let the owner keep his bull at the base price, like I have seen a couple of "Colonels" get caught with no real bidder.

If I want to buy one of your animals don't you set a price ? I f you want 2500 for a bull and I offer 1000 will you still sell it to me ?

 

[Sir Loin]

Ga. prime,
Re:

Sir Loin, you say that you wouldn't buy a bull sight unseen. How does that fit into this?

Regardless of how the bidding is conducted I prefer a little more up close personal contact before I buy.
I just can't see, feel, smell or hear what I want on a TV screen.
SL

 

[dj]

Ga. prime,
Re:

Sir Loin, you say that you wouldn't buy a bull sight unseen. How does that fit into this?

Regardless of how the bidding is conducted I prefer a little more up close personal contact before I buy.
I just can't see, feel, smell or hear what I want on a TV screen.
SL

Wouldn't you have to be there? To raise your card?

 

[Sir Loin]

Dj,
Re:

Wouldn't you have to be there? To raise your card?

Not really!

This makes it possible for our sale to be broadcast over RFD TV. With our FREE and very Afforda-BULL deliveries, many of our customers prefer to participate in our sale via RFD TV or one of our other two stay-at-home options.

 

[Angus In Texas]

There are many times when I have bid on cattle that I do not want contending bidders to know who they are bidding against. Like it or not sometimes bidding becomes a pride thing to where one guy doesn't want to get out bid by a certain ranch or rancher. Therefore I try to be as discreet about bidding as possible.

The drawback to a cowboy auction is that everyone knows exactly who they are bidding against. Most times you can figure out who you are bidding against but not always.

 

[dun]

Last year at the MO Red Angus bull sale they had a silent auction on bulls. Minimum bid was psted and you just wrote in your bid. From the reports I heard they did pretty well with it. I may be able to find out more at the Springfield Farmfest.

 

[KMacGinley]

An auction is where people bid against each other for an item. I think people should be able to start where they want to, not where the seller says they must. Auctioneers try to set a base price sometimes by taking phantom bids. I never bid at an auction until I actually see someone bidding. This is the part of the cowboy auction I like. No phantum bids allowed except the phantom bid by the owner... the base price. I would never bid at an auction with a base price. I would let the owner keep his bull at the base price, like I have seen a couple of "Colonels" get caught with no real bidder.

If I want to buy one of your animals don't you set a price ? I f you want 2500 for a bull and I offer 1000 will you still sell it to me ?

Huh??? If I had my animals in an auction and the top bid was $1000, then I would sell it for $1000, to me that is an auction. If you came out to my place and I told you I wanted $2500 and you offered me $1000, I just might tell you to have a nice day.

Saw a guy try to sell a couple of pretty poor angus yearling bulls a couple of years ago at a state angus sale and they were going for $750. He stood up and pitched a fit, ended up taking them home I suppose. Haven't seen him at any sales since. I would have sold them for the $750 and taken my lumps and bred better cattle for the sale.

Auctions are about Price discovery. I fully understand the floor, I won't buy at an auction that has one.

 

[Brandonm2]

I like the concept myself. With this method I can study the catalog, study the animals, look at the price floors and if there is NOT an animal I want at the floor price or slightly above then I can just leave after the free lunch without having to sit through an entire auction. I also don't have those deal moments where I feel the urge to jump in on a pair I was not even thinking about because the market is "missing her". I will spend less money at auction without that $500 cow I just had to jump in on and bid up to $1500 (or more). I also like the different levels of floor. IF one page of bulls have a floor of $2000 and another page of bulls has a floor of $3000, the owner is telling me that he does not think that first page of bulls is worth $3000. I am inclined to believe him and will not bid $3000 or more for a $2000 floor price bull. I think I like this better than a regular auction.