Auction

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!