Sale Day is almost as exciting as Christmas…

Growing up in suburbia, my experience with livestock came from our annual visit to the National Western Stock Show in Denver. We’d watch the rodeo; walk through the exhibits gathering bags of swag; and then gawk at the rows and rows of haltered cattle being groomed, clipped, and blow-dried by cattlemen – or cattlemen’s children.

What I didn’t know then was that the Stock Show was more than just the rodeo and the trinkets I wouldn’t play with later. It was sale day. It was where cattlemen and their families would reap the benefits of months, or maybe years, of hard work.

Fast-forward to our lives on the ranch, I have learned that sale day and cattle auctions are thrilling. Walking into the auction barn, the pungent scent of hay and manure mingles in the air – just like the Stock Show. But, as a newly branded cattle person, sale day also brings the smell of sawdust and donuts, the taste of a tepid cup of coffee, and the sounds of fast-talking auctioneers and restless, bawling cows.

Cattle auctions can be a great place to make purchases for a growing ranch. It was how we got our start with 603G and 947G. And, for limousin breeders in our area, the Great American Pie sale in April is the place to be seen selling and buying cattle.

When we go to any sale, we generally look for a bred heifer, or two. Buying a young cow gives us time to get to know them, and they us, while also giving us a future generation to plan for. Adding to the LAAN Limousin herd, we look for traits that will strengthen our future generations – specifically focusing on cows that with low birth weights, high weaning and yearling weights, and strong maternal EPDs.

Good cattle are more valuable when we keep detailed and accurate performance records. EPDs help us predict each cow’s production capability. To see the performance records of our cows, visit Our Sires or Our Dams and click to see their pedigrees.