selling cattle online

[tlakota]

I was on a site the other day that sold cattle online...they would sell calves at a certain weight and at a certain price
for example they wanted $1.18 for 535 pound steers with a $.08 slide...then it gives weighing conditions...what happens if calves are over or under that 535 pound weight....could someone explain this whole process to me please? thanks

 

[Jason]

The slide is what changes the price if the animal is over or under the target weight.

The base was 535 @ $1.18, or $631.30 per hd.

The slide would make it so the buyer doesn't have to pay the same per pound for a heavier animal. In general cattle sell for more per pound the lighter they are, as they get heavier the price per pound is less.

If the cattle weighed 540 they are over the target (base) of 535. If the price was the same per pound those cattle would bring 540 @ $1.18 or $637.20. With the slide, they bring $.08(the slide) x 5 lbs (the amount off target) or $.40 per hundred weight less.

Base price $1.18 less $.40/ cwt is $1.1760

540 wts on that base and slide would bring 540 x $1.1760 = $635.04

The slide is always based on 100 pounds but usually people talk cattle price per pound. The real base price would be $118.00/cwt

Hope this is clear enough.

Jason

 

[Cowpuncher]

The slide usually works OK if the cattle are heavier than advertised. I have never seen the slide work when the cattle are lighter than advertised except on bred stock.

It is important when selling with the slide to make sure your advertised weights are not too light. Ifyou do, you will get the lower price that goes with heavier cattle and no slide.

Superior used to give 10 pounds leeway before the slide kicked in. They don't do that any more - must have been buyer pressure.

 

[Northern Rancher]

A sliode on breeding stock that's a new one.

 

[Jason]

Most slides work both ways. If the cattle are light the price per pound goes up, but the total dollar per head is down.

If your dealing with someone that tricky, maybe you best not be dealing.

I agree with Northern, who the heck has a slide on breeding stock?

 

[Broke-T]

Delivered a load yesterday that I sold on Superior before Christmas.

There slide only goes one way, to the heavy end. If your catle are heavy the price per pound goes down but if they are light you don't get any extra.

With a 5 cent slide I like my calves to always be a few pounds heavy.

Johnny

 

[Anonymous]

Most slides work both ways. If the cattle are light the price per pound goes up, but the total dollar per head is down.

If your dealing with someone that tricky, maybe you best not be dealing.

I agree with Northern, who the heck has a slide on breeding stock?

Jason- I've worked with buyers for 40 years and the only buyers I have seen slide to the light side were the Canadians...

 

[Soapweed]

Most slides work both ways. If the cattle are light the price per pound goes up, but the total dollar per head is down.

If your dealing with someone that tricky, maybe you best not be dealing.

I agree with Northern, who the heck has a slide on breeding stock?

Jason- I've worked with buyers for 40 years and the only buyers I have seen slide to the light side were the Canadians...

As far as I'm concerned, a slide should work both ways. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. One thing about taking cattle to a sale barn versus a video sale, in a sale barn if the cattle are light you get paid accordingly. If they are light on the video deal, the buyer gets all the advantage.

 

[Horseless]

A sliode on breeding stock that's a new one.

Stevenson/Basin's last sale on Superoir had a slide for bred heifers if they were under the listed weight.

 

[Anonymous]

Most slides work both ways. If the cattle are light the price per pound goes up, but the total dollar per head is down.

If your dealing with someone that tricky, maybe you best not be dealing.

I agree with Northern, who the heck has a slide on breeding stock?

Jason- I've worked with buyers for 40 years and the only buyers I have seen slide to the light side were the Canadians...

As far as I'm concerned, a slide should work both ways. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. One thing about taking cattle to a sale barn versus a video sale, in a sale barn if the cattle are light you get paid accordingly. If they are light on the video deal, the buyer gets all the advantage.

Yep- Some of those drought years when the calves come in 50-60 lbs lighter than average the buyers make out pretty good.....

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Jason- I've worked with buyers for 40 years and the only buyers I have seen slide to the light side were the Canadians...[/quote]

As far as I'm concerned, a slide should work both ways. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. One thing about taking cattle to a sale barn versus a video sale, in a sale barn if the cattle are light you get paid accordingly. If they are light on the video deal, the buyer gets all the advantage.

Yep- Some of those drought years when the calves come in 50-60 lbs lighter than average the buyers make out pretty good.....

OT you mean Canadians bought calves? I thought they just rode the shirt tails and flooded your market. You mean cattle moved both ways across the border?

 

[Anonymous]

OT you mean Canadians bought calves? I thought they just rode the shirt tails and flooded your market. You mean cattle moved both ways across the border?

Actually for about 2 years (of the 12 years of NAFTA) Canadians tryed to be good "trading" partners....Quite a few calves were sold on the Canadian Video....One of my old college buddies was their buyer/rep down here...

And thats the first time I saw the slide go both ways....

 

[Soapweed]

OT you mean Canadians bought calves? I thought they just rode the shirt tails and flooded your market. You mean cattle moved both ways across the border?

Actually for about 2 years (of the 12 years of NAFTA) Canadians tryed to be good "trading" partners....Quite a few calves were sold on the Canadian Video....One of my old college buddies was their buyer/rep down here...

And thats the first time I saw the slide go both ways....

Think about it, why wouldn't the slide go both ways? As I said, that all factors in at a sale barn because the buyers pay accordingly. It is one of the reasons I don't usually sell on video.

 

[murph]

There is a difference in buying by the head or by the cwt. Breeding stock are sold by the head, therefore the slide is geared for the downside, i.e. if your buying 1000 pound bred heifers and they actually weigh 900 then price per head is decreased by using a 50 cent slide. This is the opposite of buying calves or yearlings by the hundred and using a 4-8 cent slide if they are over the base weight. That may be the confusion in breeding stock sliding both ways. Did that make any sense?

 

[Denny]

OT you mean Canadians bought calves? I thought they just rode the shirt tails and flooded your market. You mean cattle moved both ways across the border?

Actually for about 2 years (of the 12 years of NAFTA) Canadians tryed to be good "trading" partners....Quite a few calves were sold on the Canadian Video....One of my old college buddies was their buyer/rep down here...

And thats the first time I saw the slide go both ways....

Think about it, why wouldn't the slide go both ways? As I said, that all factors in at a sale barn because the buyers pay accordingly. It is one of the reasons I don't usually sell on video.

Did you sell some on Superior a couple years back?

I had talked with them one time but I did'nt like their rep he seamed like a gangster in a cowboy hat.I was at the scaleyards the day the superior bought calves shipped out.They sorted those calves over and over back weighing them after he let them stand all day.Then they loaded the trucks and shipped the calves all the while he had'nt got an okay to pay the owners. Now I'm not one on trusting just anyone but what could they have done if he decided not to pay the cattle were on a truck going God only knows where.I sell private treaty if that does'nt work a Reputable salebarn would be used most likely Hub Livestock in Aberdeen SD. We have sold there before with good results its 300 miles from home but the savings in commission alone pays the trucking. Beings they are hauled a long ways they pay pretty well for what calf is left when we get there.

 

[Jason]

If the slide is a one way deal, you better base your cattle on the light end and get a high price. If not sell them somewhere else.

Just because you allow it to happen doesn't mean it should. Specify the slide in the deal. You own the cattle, don't play the victim.

Usually buyers just adjust their prices based on what they see. If they see a rancher that has based his steers too high and there is no slide on the downside they would be foolish not to take advantage of it. However if 1 sees the steers are too light more should and be bidding higher to buy them.

If the rancher has based them incorrectly on purpose he should be "taken to school" for his efforts.

It never ceases to amaze me how a guy can think he is beating a buyer by weighing on the truck, or getting a smaller pencil shrink... the buyers just lower their bids based on the conditions.

I remember a story about my granddad selling a pen of calves years back. The buyer and he walked the pen and agreed on a per head price. My uncle was a greedy sort and thought the calves should all be weighed and sold by the exact weight.

They decided to humor him. It took all afternoon weighing the calves 1 at a time on a single animal beam scale. In the end the pen was a few pounds light of what was estimated by granddad and the buyer and it cost them $10 on the whole deal.

 

[tlakota]

Denny, i agree about Hub City Livestock....From all the salebarns ive been to, there isnt one that compares to the fairness of their operation and their effiency...Theres not many times that you see the owners out back sorting and moving cattle around making sure everything is run how it should.