Monday we were planning to run up to
Samsula to the feed mill to pick up
horse feed, etc.
But at church on Sunday, our friend Doug
asked if we would help him out.
So 5:00 am found Rod outside feeding
our animals and me inside making breakfast
for the "inside" animals.
(Just Rod and I - he has to feed the dogs...)
And then by 6:30 we were pulling into
Doug's yard and heading to the back 40.
(Doug's place is where Kyle has worked
for the past several years.)
(Doug calls it "the farm that Kyle built")
He is MISSED!
Anyhow.
Kyle, Gina and Doug had built a little pen
with a skinny chute and a loading
ramp that led into the horse trailer.
Gina bought two calves about 2 years ago.
Then she left to go to Nebraska on a mission.
While she was gone, they grew into nice looking beef!
So Monday was the day they were going to auction.
It was entertaining watching 4 "wanna be" cowboys
(cow people? cow persons?)
loading these two critters into the horse trailer.
Considering we have never loaded cattle
and the cattle have never been loaded,
we did pretty well!
Kyle had devised some pretty ingenious ways to
get them in the trailer and keep them there
until we could get the gate closed and
keep the humans from getting killed in the process.
And it worked!!!
We pulled in at 6:30,
hummed and hawed,
planned,
plotted,
made a couple of runs to the barn
for additional supplies,
and then finally got down to it.
One false start.
And then IN they went!
And it was only 7:10!
Successful, I would say!
Next was the drive across the state
to a little town called Okeechobee.
I drove through there every week for
several months last year when I was
teaching in Ft. Myers.
I had no idea they had a cattle auction
on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Or I would have stopped!
Anyhow.
We pulled up and this group of really
nice and helpful (and experienced)
cousins off-loaded them and gave us
a receipt.
It was 9:00.
Turns out the auction is at noon.
So...
3 hours to kill in a little town.
We found an awesome little diner
called Ropers.
They serve a MEAN breakfast!
Doug had One Eyed Bull.
(some people call it Toad in a Hole)
(or a fried egg in the middle of a
piece of toast)
(But One Eyed Bull sounds better.)
It was delicious!
And then it was off to the various feed stores,
western wear stores, etc. to buy Doug
a new hat, a new work shirt for Gina
(she is majoring in Ag Bus. and minoring
in Animal Husbandry)
and hang a bunch of fliers for the horse
she wants to sell.
Oh.
And we stopped at the John Deere dealership.
If only!
(Yes, we have 2.5 acres. But it's not too big.....
don't you agree???)
At 11:30 we headed across the street to the auction.
It's INDOORS!
Who knew!
On the extreme right there are several rows
of really comfy theater seats for the buyers
and sellers to sit in.
The buyers get the first two rows.
The chair in the top right corner is for the guy
who runs the big black/brown gate where
the cows run in.
The tan chair at the top center of the photo
was another guy who seemed to just chase
errant cows back onto the center of the floor
with a long bamboo pole with streamers on the end.
(The floor is a weigh scale)
To the left of him are the two women who
keep track of all the transactions.
There's the lady in charge with a buyer
getting registered.
(or bringing her coffee.)
(hard to tell)
(they were all friends)
The leather chair to the left is the auctioneer.
Directly below him is the lighted sign
that tells the lot # and the weight of
the cow being sold.
The door opens, a cow runs in.
(I imagine there is someone on the other side
giving them some incentive...)
It wanders around a little while the
scale captures its weight and the two
guys prod it with their bamboo poles
so you get a look at both sides.
Then the gate on the other end opens
and it eventually figures it out and leaves.
Meanwhile the bidding is going on fast and furious.
Silently.
Well, except for the auctioneer.
But the bidders are all wiggling their
fingers and shaking their heads.
The guy in front of us had fancy
hand signals for the price he wanted.
It was FASCINATING!
Our cows were far enough down the
list that we had a pretty good idea of
what was going on by the time they got in
the ring.
This was her handsome steer.
(And a couple of the buyers)
He weighed 1135 and fetched $1.12/lb.
(which was one of the higher bids!)
Mostly they were selling calves
at $2 - $4.50/lb.
YIKES!
She was pleased with his weight
and his sale price.
And her little black heifer.
Only 965 lbs and $1.01/lb.
But still a pretty good price.
And, of course, the happy (relieved) sellers!
All in all it was a successful venture.
And LOADS of fun!
One of these days we might have to
run back down with our trailer and
BUY one of those steers.
(I would have totally bought her's,
but wasn't ready yet...)
Some day!
