A Trip To The Show Calf Auction
Over the years, I might have made a mention or two of the fact that I am a 4H Market Beef Leader. Let me tell you, this title is never one I thought I would have nor would I ever pick for myself to do. Now don't get me wrong, I love cattle. My Papa had a hundred cows and there might be photo albums at my Grandma's that contain pictures of Small Fry Kat with Hereford calves in her lap. I admit to nothing.
That said, my entire life experience with cattle has been limited to the beef production aspect of the endeavor. Anyone who homesteads and has livestock deals with the husbandry part of the animal world, and that is where I am most comfortable at; the raising and care of livestock. So of course, Life decided that I needed a little more excitement and befuddlement in my timeline, as if I didn't walk around in those two states perpetually as it is, and plopped the show cattle thing into my realm.
Time for some honesty, I HATE showing animals. It is most definitely not my thing. However, I love cattle, I love my Beeflings (as I refer to my 4H'ers), and I really love my daughter. Because of those items, I find myself teaching young people about monogastric and ruminant digestion, scratching my head over the complexities of show cattle fitting, and spending my vacation pounding endless miles of pavement while dealing with no small amount of people drama at the State Fair every year. It's great.
The 4H Market Beef Project is one of the most expensive, time consuming, and emotionally taxing projects in the entire 4H program. It's a ten month commitment, you have to spend thousands to get started, and your project can break you physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is also one of the most rewarding projects ever. Any kid who can put in ten months of feeding and training a steer, show it at the fair, and then say good bye to their partner after it's all over is a superstar. Last year I made my Beeflings little posters that said "Blood, Sweat, and Steers" on them, and that is no joke.
My biggest beef (erp!) with 4H Market Beef is that the project is in no way economically realistic or sustainable. The amount of grain they feed their steers would break a real rancher's budget, you can't eat the stinking hair, and I'm pretty sure that nobody raising market beef gets $5-$10 a pound for their steers. However, there are certain things about the program that I love. Record keeping, cooperative, experiential learning, and sticking with a goal no matter how tough the destination are just a few things I admire about my Beeflings. It's why I keep coming back for more, er...torture.
Hmm, I could grouse for days about 4H, the beef industry, homesteading, meat consumption, sustainability, the list goes on, but this is a steer post, so we are going to get back to the meat of the subject. If one is to do a market beef project, you usually get your steer in October. It's a ten month project. That said, last Sunday we rambled down the hill onto the Rathdrum Prairie and went to the McLean Cattle Company's annual show calf auction.
The McLean's are super cool folks, they have a pretty good sized beef cattle operation, and a few years ago branched out into breeding their own line of club calves. Note: Club calves, or clubbies, are calves bred for show. They usually look like a block of butter with post legs. Floofy, chunky beasts. The McLeans breed about twenty to thirty little show calves every year and take the time to halter break them too. If any of you have ever had to halter break a calf, then you understand how awesome that little extra bit of moo service is! Sure, you pay a bit more for that addition, but my joints and aging carcass are thankful for it.
Before the auction is a preview. We had went down the weekend before to pick our favorites. I walked into the barn and my eyes immediately went to a steer with the tag number 837. I looked at my daughter and said,
"That's the best steer in the barn."
Of course we looked at all of them, but she quickly agreed that the little embryo transfer steer out of the sire Monopoly was the finest hunk of beef in the entire building. He was at the top of our list of choices. He had a blocky build, floofy hair, a big square frame, moved nice, elegant neck structure, fine headset. The list goes on. He was the one.
Upon returning to the preview last Sunday, we both agreed that our minds hadn't changed, and discovered that he was third in the auction order. My daughter was a little kerfluffled that her second choice was the first steer to go, so we had to formulate a battle plan.
"Is the Monopoly steer the one that you really want?" I asked her.
"Yes, hands down." she replied.
"Then go for it." I replied as I was noshing on a hamburger whilst sitting upon a bleacher made out of hay bales.
She got that look of determination that she always gets before she gets something done, and I smiled as I kicked back and listened to a feed presentation. For the last couple years the McLean's have brought their feed supplier in from Ritzville and this year he gave us a talk about show feeding. I found myself more than amused a couple of times as he talked about how feeding show animals was not sustainable and completely different than feeding production or market animals. Giggle
The McLean's feed everyone who attends the auction a lunch of grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks. I am pretty sure that is why my husband and son come. Of course, this year my son did say that he will probably show a steer next year. My Beefling herd, it grows.
The time of the auction came. Our daughter clutched her bidder number and looked ready for battle. The auction ring itself is two big bleachers made out of hay, the barn floor in the middle, and a flatbed trailer for the auctioneer and records keepers. I love the setting. Off to the left of the ring stood all the gorgeous, freshly clipped little moos. At about 500-600 pounds, freshly weaned steers are just the cutest, I might have petted and chatted with them all.
My girl had a budget of $2500. Considering that amount is three times the going rate of a market steer, I had minor heart palpitations every time I considered it, but it's her money, from her hard work, and that strategy paid off for her last year. She spent more on her market steer last year and also made two times more money. The first steer, her second choice, went for $2600. I patted her shoulder, not too shabby. The floor price for all the steers was between $1200-$1500 dollars, and it's pretty fun watching kids from 8-18 get in bidding wars over their favorites. I smiled a lot.
Finally Monopoly Jr. came into the ring. I don't know if it was the determination in her form, but even though other kids started bidding on the steer, they dropped out as my kid's arm kept flying in the air. I don't know how, but she got that steer for her budget price. It was wild. What's even more wild is that siblings of that steer sell between $3800-$34,000, so I'm pretty happy for her.
Another super cool thing the McLean's do is they keep the steers on their place until the kids get their 4H checks. That of course means next week when my girl's check comes in, we get to go pick up our newest moo. His stall and tons of pampering are waiting. As is another year of me scratching my head at the almost absurdity of it all. Life is gloriously strange.
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's fragrant with the scent of Le Matter Du Moo iPhone.