So today ended up interesting. I did not go to the auction which I never do when we sell. I always go and make sure they market them well and my normal buyers know what's ours. I just couldn't do it with all the emotions. I tried unsuccessfully to sleep. When I finally gave up and got up it got the best of me and I turned on the live stream. Watching the prices slowly go down. Finally called when DH woke up and our group of heifers still hadn't sold yet. We did great on the pairs. I'm happy they are gone and we did well on them. The holstein steers hadn't sold yet either. I was getting pretty angry that our heifers/steers were nearly last in the sale AGAIN. Often if I don't go out and pull favors they end up last because we are a littler guy to them vs all the big guys and all the owners friends. I was told long ago my cattle would be placed better in the sale if I took them in a day early so I've been doing that and still they don't go through until prices are getting worse and most buyers have filled their orders. On top of it I'm charged for the extra day they are there. This was the final straw for us today. We even spoke with the owner and explained their reason for being open (due to MO breeding season) and they didn't even put it up on the screen or even say anything. Not to mention being nearly last through the sale. DH had a fit. Prices had gotten so low we were going to get less than we'd paid for a few of them a year ago. We agreed to pass them out and take them to MO and take our chances with them. We literally were loosing enough by them being last that it more than paid the fuel to take them to MO. DH decided we'd just figure it out. It's only one load of beef heifers at this point. So I called and told them to pass them out. A few minutes later we saw our heifers on the live stream being sold. I immediately called back and told them they were currently in the ring and NOT to be sold. Our suspicions were correct. They brought far less than they should have. Auctioneer had some snarky remarks too about them being passed out which I proceeded to make known how much I did not appreciate the inappropriate comments and attitude when I went in to get our check and pick up our heifers. We payed a few fees and picked up our heifers. In the trailer line we were offered OVER market value on the spot for them. DH said no. We're taking them to MO. What I find interesting is the guy who offered over market value for them was the manager (not the owner) who apologized for not putting our cattle in the proper place in the sale. Gave me some excuses and I explained this is a constant thing. We always get pushed to last when I don't intervene. He even admitted he knew who I was and that I'd worked there for years when I was younger.He said he'd seen our heifers yesterday and really liked them. I truly suspect he may have been the one to buy them in the ring and that's why they were nearly last. To get a better deal. He pushed very hard to buy them before we loaded them up. At that point the answer was no all the way around. Our girls were so good in the ring, pens and loading. Made me proud of them. Brought them home and we'll just take them with us. Oh and the 405 pound holstein steers brought more than the 1200 pound beef heifers went for.
The couple beef heifers we had bought last year we put nearly 450 pounds on and "sold" today for less than we paid for them a year ago (prices are higher now) with how late in the sale they were. Relieved to have them home. We'll try and get them bred and figure out from there the rest. Now to figure out what to do with the remaining holstein steers we intended to sell before we left. I'm not sending them to that place to go in the singles pen.
