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By
TIM DIETRICH, Kentucky Department of Agriculture Beef
Marketing Specialist
For
many years now, through the CPH-45 program, we have
seen the advantages of grading and commingling cattle
into large groups when it comes to marketing. There
are those who will argue that the grading and grouping
of cattle is just as important as the health and preconditioning
program for calves when it relates to the price advantages.
| A
group of commingled cattle is sold at the Kentucky-Tennessee
Livestock Market in Guthrie. (
Click here for a high-resolution image.)
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Mark
Barnett, managing partner of the Kentucky-Tennessee
Livestock Market at Guthrie, Ky., has been grouping
and packaging cattle for the market's weekly sales since
becoming involved with the stockyard in 1979. “The buyers
like it, and it makes the sellers money,” Barnett said.
The
goal is to start the sale each Thursday at 1 p.m., but
in reality the sale will start when all the cattle are
sorted and every pen counted to ensure accurate bookkeeping
for buyers, sellers, and office management at the yards.
In the fall of the year, with runs of 2,500 to 3,000
head, it may actually be 5 or 6 p.m. before everything
is in place to start the sale. The sale ends
quickly because the cattle are in large groups. On sale
days sorting begins early and is accomplished by sorting
steers and bulls at one scale and heifers at another
scale.
“As
long as there is only one person doing the grouping
on a sex, we can keep uniformity on the groups, and
that is what the buyers want,” Barnett said.
In
the spring and summer of the year, when stockyards can
have runs of 1,200 to 1,400 head, the grouping is done
across one set of scales and usually the sale starts
near the scheduled time.
“We
do this as a service for both the buyers and the sellers,”
Barnett said. “The buyers don't have to sit through
a long, drawn-out sale of small groups to get the numbers
they need, and the sellers have the marketing power
of load lots or large groups.”
Generally
speaking, cattle in the 250- to 800-pound weight range
are grouped together; they are then sorted by hide color,
type, and sex. Steers, heifers, and bulls are grouped
and when a group has a load (about 50,000 pounds), a
new group is started.
The
week before I visited the stockyard there was a total
of 1,300 head. Out of that total, 828 head were
grouped and sold as commingled cattle. Only 50 head,
which should have been grouped because of their size
and type, were sold as singles because they didn't fit,
for one reason or another, in a specific category.
When
the numbers warrant, cull cows are packaged together.
“Cows that are in good flesh and slick can be put together,
and it works the same on them as it does the calves,”
Barnett said.
Barnett
is fair to both the seller and the buyer and believes
this is the reason for the long-running success of their
program.
In
1994, with a bit of apprehension among the office personnel,
a computer system was installed, which, of course, proved
to be extremely reliable, efficient, and a time-saver.
The office staff has been reduced as a result of the
computer installation, but with the efficiency of the
new system, checks are available almost immediately
following sale of a producer's cattle. The system also
allows for the ability and flexibility to move cattle
to a different pen should the need arise. There
is no question that the decision made 10 years ago to
move into the modern technology era has proven to be
a good one.
I
can speak from experience with CPH-45 sales.
This type of commingled sale is not necessarily easier
from the stockyards' standpoint. The workload prior
to the sale requires a crew of reliable workers to ensure
all cattle get in the appropriate pens. It also demands
accuracy in counting the pens after the sort and before
the sale. Once the sale starts, the actual selling time
is relatively quick due to more cattle per sale.
Barnett said many times with large groups of cattle,
half the pen goes through the ring, but if the buyers
want to see the remaining animals, they have that option
to request to see the entire group.
Sales
of this type truly are a win-win situation. Producers
have the marketing power of large groups and buyers
have the opportunity to purchase large groups of cattle
in a short amount of time. These sales are possible
only with a weigh-in situation and take a dedicated,
capable crew to make them work, but they can be very
rewarding for everyone involved.
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