The destination for the day. (Same drive different parking lot.) You can view the online catalog here. It is pdf and takes a while to load, but it looks as if there will be some real fine animals there.
******Home later with lots of pictures. The sale has been held down by the old cow barn as long as I can remember, but this year they placed it up by the new barn. Wa-a-a-ay up on the hill. The new building is very nice and makes it much easier to display the cattle well. (The shuttle ride was something to write home about though.)
This cow caught my eye within a few minutes of entering the barn. I didn't even look at her pedigree because I had my driving glasses on. However, when we went outside a fellow we show against over at Altamont pointed out that he and his son had bred and owned her dam. They came to the sale determined to buy the young cow and did so. She was lot number 46, Pineyvale Power Tessy VG, and brought six thousand dollars. She is of an age to show against our Lemonade and there isn't much doubt about who would take home the ribbon in that match up. We have to content ourselves with showing home-breds, which isn't really a bad thing. We might not win as often but it sure is sweet when we do.
This heifer is pretty special too. Alan spotted her and dragged me over to see her right away. Lot number 10, Welcome Velvet Saratoga. She was offered for sale to benefit the Kristy Peck Memorial Scholarship. Ms. Peck, SUNY Cobleskill graduate, was killed when the Thruway bridge collapsed and the scholarsip honors her memory. Auctioneer Dave Rama began his chant as she walked into the ring,called one single bid of $4300. and banged his gavel down. I looked up in astonishment as we were expecting prolonged bidding on such a fine animal for such a good cause. However, all was immdiately explained. A syndicate, including the Rama family and a number of others put the heifer right back in the sale, thus contributing her first cost, with the second buyer, Ransom Rail Farm, taking her home for $3500.
Here is one Liz liked, a Roylane Jordan daughter, lot number 44. She brought $3100.
We didn't stay for the whole sale. The tent was cold, the seats were hard and we were hungry. Did we buy anything? Well, yes. Alan bought a hamburger and I had a donut. There were a couple of new little calves we would have liked to see sell. He might have invested some of his college savings on one if we could have stood to stay that late. However, they were way, way down in the sale order and the tent was cold and the seats were hard. Liz stayed so I guess we will know what they brought anyhow....probably more than we wanted to spend.
Beautiful animals here, TC.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I am not from the Moosier State and don't have a slight clue as to the codings but these gals are pretty darned cute.
Beautiful cows! Have fun.
ReplyDeleteIt was a really awesome sale. But SO slow for whatever reason. And I still can't believe the top seller was 12,000!!!
ReplyDeleteI checked back, your pictures show the cows much better that catalog.
ReplyDeleteNice cows!
Steve, this is a sale that seems to get better every year
ReplyDeleteNita, thanks, we did
Paints...it was too slow for me...but that 12 thou was fun to watch
nita, thanks, the kids did a great job of fitting and they looked real nice.
First, ouch for Alan. I hope he is feeling better after shots and hocky shot stopping.
ReplyDeleteLast Monday I sat at Junior's livestock auction and the seats were hard there too, but it was sweltering hot rather than cold!
Those are some nice looking cows. You'll have to give me a heads up on some future auctions. I'd love to check one out.
ReplyDeletedang big brother...i almost emailed you to see if you wanted to go! Next time I will!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting. The first cow that caught your eye . . . I'd have taken a look at her ribs showing and thought she wasn't healthy.
ReplyDeleteI had NO idea that you could put down that kind of money on these animals. Wow.
FC, he is fine with both and thank you
ReplyDeleteNYV, we talked about this last summer didn't we? And I forgot all about it. Sorry, we would have loved to have had you go with us. You were saved a pretty cold spell though and a really wild ride in the shuttle van.
Cathy, those long, wide, sweeping ribs are just what make her a gorgeous cow. That lean, elegant look is called Dairy character. We catch a lot of flack at one fair we go to, which is more in the city than country, because folks think the dairy cows are too skinny, but that is how the good ones look. When they go dry for their annual six-week vacation, they will gain some weight, but they never look like beef cows.
Also to be admired are her hips, which are clean and prominent and the way her skin seems to drape over her bones like silk. The large veins in her belly are called milk veins and that is just how they should look. Less perfect is the way her fore udder (the part containing the front two teats) is a bit on the bulgy side and her hind feet, which have quite a lot too much slope in the pastern. For good locomotion a cow should have a nice, steep heel. Aren't you glad you asked? lol.
I thought a good many of these cows brought pretty darned good money, but folks were in a buying mood I guess. Alan went with the thought of maybe picking up a new calf for a few hundred bucks, but the cheapest one they saw sell brought over $800
TC - Thank you! I just read this to my husband and we're fascinated. Wow. It really is wonderful - we take so much for granted. I just polished off a glass of milk with a piece of toast. Thanks:0)
ReplyDeleteCathy-thank you for being interested and for drinking milk!!
ReplyDelete