Cattle Auction

Meriasek · May 20, 2011

So i was watching a cattle auction on television:

Current lot 4427. 80 weaned str calves. 585#

Sold for $131.50. Also discussion about a freight adjustment.

Please somebody give me a primer on cattle auctions.

Does $131.50 repesent a per cow price? So in this auction, the buyer would get 80 weaned steers with average weight of 585 pounds and would pay 131.50 x80?

sweettractors · May 20, 2011

Meriasek said:
So i was watching a cattle auction on television:

Current lot 4427. 80 weaned str calves. 585#

Sold for $131.50. Also discussion about a freight adjustment.

Please somebody give me a primer on cattle auctions.

Does $131.50 repesent a per cow price? So in this auction, the buyer would get 80 weaned steers with average weight of 585 pounds and would pay 131.50 x80?

131.50 per hundred weight or $1.3150 per pound X 585 lbs = $792.27 per head less commissions. Ken Sweet

Bird · May 20, 2011

I used to go to cattle auctions and it could be quite confusing to a novice (including myself), but the two places I used to go (Hubbard, TX and West, TX) sold some animals by the pound and others by the individual animal.

sweettractors · May 20, 2011

This link below is a great place to watch cattle auctions live online. You could even bid online, if you had the need. Ken Sweet
DVAuction.com - Broadcasting Real-Time Auctions

SandburRanch · May 20, 2011

In earlier days it was common to sell cattle at auction by the head rather than by weight. Those auctions more often than not had no scales and it was nothing for an old cow hand to guess the weight within 5 - 10 pounds.

sweettractors · May 20, 2011

SandburRanch said:
In earlier days it was common to sell cattle at auction by the head rather than by weight. Those auctions more often than not had no scales and it was nothing for an old cow hand to guess the weight within 5 - 10 pounds.

We still have "Pin hookers" that buy cattle off the truck while they are waiting in line to be unloaded. If they are better than the farmer at guessing weights and current market values, sometimes they buy and pay the farmer in cash and then run through the auction. Ken Sweet

Meriasek · May 20, 2011

So what's a freight adjustment?

dieselbeef · May 23, 2011

loss of wieght from trucking...

MMagis · May 23, 2011

Some cattle are still sold by the head. I think that's more common with dairy auctions, though I'm not positive. Bottle calves are also usually sold per head, and pairs are also sold as one price. Other than that, beef cattle are most often sold by the hundred weight or per pound (same thing, just a decimal point moved).
Freight adjustment, to me, would be the cost of trucking the cattle. Loss of weight is what I've always heard referred to as "shrink". Dieselbeef probably knows better than me though.