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Figuring the Slide on calves

F

flyingS

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
781
Location
Northern Sandhills Just East of Soapweed
I have listed my inlaws calves on Western Video for about 3 yrs. My wifes Great Uncle told me the first year that he thought the buyer should give them the first 10 lbs then slide them from their. That made me curious so I sat down and put together several different scenarios. No matter how you figure a slide you can not loose money. I have not actually set down and figured out what the dollars/hd difference was if you sold a set of 600 lb calves at market value compared to selling them at 550 and slideing them. I can tell you though that for every lb overweight your calves are you are getting more dollars/hd than you do if they make weight. If they do not make weight it is unfortunate for you but that is a losing scenario.
 
One reason I haven't sold very often on video sales is the fact that the slide only works in the buyer's favor. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander. There is no reason the slide shouldn't work both ways.
 
I know of some country deals where the slide has worked both directions. That deal is not common but keen negotiation can pull it off sometimes.

There are reasons that video auctions are better than taking cattle to the sale barn also. No system is perfect and timing is a big factor.
 
We have sold on a slide here and it has always been both ways. This is the first time I have heard of a one way slide.
 
MikeMcc said:
I sell calves on the Big Blue Sale Barn and the slide does go both ways. I usually sell with a 10 up 5 down.
Click to expand...

Even with 10 up and 5 down, the slide is still in the buyer's favor. To make things equal, it should be 10 up and 10 down, or 5 up and 5 down.
 
I don't disagree that it would be nice to slide'm both ways. Most of the time it doesn't work that way. I know that everyone does not have the ability to test way calves, I think that is the best way to get a sell weight. After seeing test weights and evaluating how the calves were managed I have been able to guess the weight within 10lbs of actual pay weight when I listed the calves and they have alway had to slide them. The main thing I don't like about selling calves in the barn is the shrink. I had a neighbor that test weighed a set of yearlings on the ground then weighed them on the truck 45 miles away. They shrank over 4% in that distance, then go ahead and have someone sort on them and put them in a strange environment for a day and see what they really shrink. Even if you take them the morning of the sale you still give up a lot of weight.
 
I had never heard of a slide both ways til someone on here mentioned it. We have a hard time convincing our neighbor that he is making more money if his calves weigh too much.
 
Soapweed said:
MikeMcc said:
I sell calves on the Big Blue Sale Barn and the slide does go both ways. I usually sell with a 10 up 5 down.
Click to expand...

Even with 10 up and 5 down, the slide is still in the buyer's favor. To make things equal, it should be 10 up and 10 down, or 5 up and 5 down.
Click to expand...

Thats the way I do it.
 
flyingS said:
I don't disagree that it would be nice to slide'm both ways. Most of the time it doesn't work that way. I know that everyone does not have the ability to test way calves, I think that is the best way to get a sell weight. After seeing test weights and evaluating how the calves were managed I have been able to guess the weight within 10lbs of actual pay weight when I listed the calves and they have alway had to slide them. The main thing I don't like about selling calves in the barn is the shrink. I had a neighbor that test weighed a set of yearlings on the ground then weighed them on the truck 45 miles away. They shrank over 4% in that distance, then go ahead and have someone sort on them and put them in a strange environment for a day and see what they really shrink. Even if you take them the morning of the sale you still give up a lot of weight.
Click to expand...

Does anyone do anything differant to help reduce shrinkage?
 
Here they slide 'em one way.
We have always sold to a country order buyer.
We felt the shrink is a lot less when you take the calves
off the cows that morning and haul them to town and they
are weighed right away. Anyhow, it worked for us.

Lots of ranchers here now bring in a portable scale and
weigh right at their ranch. When they do that, they do take
some sort of a pencil shrink.
 
You've got to be a little bit savvy about the whole situation. You have a lot better negotiating power if your cattle are actually GOOD. :D Not many folks really know that for a fact. I say this as a person that has walked both sides of this buyer/seller scenario.
 
Katrina, the only thing I can tell you, is the less you handle them and handling them quietly will reduce shrink. All of the loads are pre sorted and replacements taken off ahead of time when there is no hurry to get it done. We sell with an early a.m gather that starts about 20 min before the truck is supposed to be there. We sort the cows in about 10 min and the load on the truck quickly. We load out of a set of portable panels, I can tell you how they are set up makes all the difference in the world. If you have to ram and cram calves on a truck you are loosing weight. I have always thought the best rule of thumb is to get your poop in a group so that you leave it on the truck. People will laugh at this but I know from experience that every time a calf craps he loses anywhere from 2 to 6 lbs. Figure that shrink on 110 calves and it is signifigant. That is why I think things need to be well planned and excuted effeciently the morning you ship. It doesn't matter whether it is bawling calves or weaned calves. There are lots of other weighs to make sure your calves are as heavy as they can be, but we won't discuss them mainly because they same person probably won't ever buy them twice if you do those things.
 
The feeder cattle sales out here work on a one way slide for the heavies. The cattle come in light, you're just SOL, leaving money on the table. Totally benefits the buyer in that regard. At least in most cases you all can make your own loads and control how you market calves. Most people out here don't have the numbers to make their own loads even if it was a mixed load, so we have county calf pool programs you can consign too.
 
Hey Flying S. I sometimes sell odds and ends at a market that does presort sales. What are some tricks to getting these calves 'as heavy as they can be?'.
 
I've re-thought my question to flyingS. Just because I'd likely not get found out at a presort doesn't make it right to 'cheat'. If we jeopardize animal health or future performance the buyers will have less $ next time around. It also goes against the code of a stockman, and he said he'd rather not discuss it and I respect that.
 
It is not a matter of compromising cattle health, it is a matter of compromising one's intergrity. I am here to tell you some of you may do things to maximize sell weight the day of shipping already and don't realize that it is not a true representation. I can tell you this, if you change your normal everyday management practices in order to maximize sell weight you are mis-representing your cattle. A lot of people do mis-represent actual weight, I am here to tell you buyers know the difference and they will not ever be back they will also tell everyone they know that your cattle are not an honest set. Use good management and handle your cattle quickly and quietly and you will get along as well as you can. Like I said earlier, make a plan and implement it. I think that it generally takes less than an hour to gather, sort cows from calves, brand inspect and load a truck. It will obviously take longer if you have more than one truck to load.
 

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