I have an assignment for you…
Go online (or do it the old fashioned way) and look in your phone book and see if you have any livestock auctions around you.
You might be surprised.
Out there…
Somewhere…
There is a sale barn working.
It may be an interesting side trip for you.
The cows that were “open” or not-pregnant at our Labor Day Working Weekend, were sent to the sale barn.
That means Riverton, Wyoming.
It is a simple process really…
The cows enter the sale barn…
The auctioneer sits in his little booth…
giving details about whatever is selling…
age…
origin… (some ranches get a big build up)
background… (out of top quality bulls, etc.)
and weight.
The floor of the pen is actually a scale…
you can see it move as the cattle and men walk across it.
Every so often, they turn on a light…
take a short break…
and balance the scale to compensate for additions of manure and the weight of the men working the doors…
The details are up on the board…
the prices changing as the buyers up the bids.
The crowd includes sellers, buyers, and watchers.
The animals move on out…
the bidding stops…
the buyers say how much they overspent…
the sellers complain how much they were underpaid…
They both go buy a hamburger at the cafe downstairs…
and the ladies at the front desk cut you a check…
after subtracting shipping charges (trucking)
vet charges
brand inspection
beef checkoff dollars (“It’s what’s for dinner”)
pen charges (they ate hay and drank water and were moved by cowboys)
and then you go to Walmart and spend what you just made.
Along the way… the next generation watches and learns.
Find me here!
