The Garden City Telegram
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BED Steer Trial Auction a gamble
Published 5/30/2009 in Beef Empire Days-Industry
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
The food was hot and ready to be served.
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Stephanie Farley/Telegram — Jason Meier looks for bidders in the crowd Friday night during the U.S. Premium Beef Dinner and Beef Empire Steer Trial Auction. BED representatives estimated a crowd of about 160 people.
Drinks were being mixed and handed out — by the individual glass and bucket full of beer.
And Jeff George, general manager for Finney County Feedyard, was busy walking around Friday night, looking at two tables full of photos of steers up for grabs and waiting to be bid on.
George attended the U.S. Premium Beef Dinner and Beef Empire Steer Trial Auction Friday night where 41 steers made up the field.
"It's hard to tell just from the picture," George said of what he's looking for in the animal, explaining, though, from the photo, he's judging the animal's depth of rib, how full the brisket is, the amount of fat on the animal and the stretch or length and growth potential of the steer.
While things have been tough with the economy and cattle industry, George said he still planned to bid Friday night, although he said it would've been better to judge the animal in person instead of through a photo.
Cattle numbers are historically low in the yards, he said, and the cattle business is directly tied to the economy. Cattle prices will only get as high as the economy will let them, he said. But George said the economy probably wouldn't affect how much he'd spend.
How the process works is the cattle are photographed at the Irsik & Doll Feed Yard, and the photo is then placed in the front of the ballroom at the Clarion Inn and auctioned off.
The owners of the cattle have their own contest in which they're vying for the cattle with the best average daily weight gain in a certain time period and then for the animal with the best carcass after it's harvested, according to Steer Trial Chairman Clint Morrison.
Friday's auction, Morrison said, is a "Calcutta" type auction in which the bidders buying the pictures actually are buying into how that animal places. They're buying that animal's potential to place in the contest. Morrison said 10 places from gain and 10 in carcass will receive prize money.
Depending on the amount the pictures go for, those who place are looking at a pot of between $35,000 and $50,000. This year, with the economy, Morris said photos could go for anywhere from $300 to $2,500, and the top finisher could win between $6,000 and $8,000 depending on pot size. The pot, he said, depends on, among other factors, how the market and economy are, as well as the mood of the bidder.
A portion of the proceeds go to benefit the BED Media Intern Scholarship Program and Intercollegiate Meats Judging Team through Garden City Community College.
George said he was looking for the most efficient animal -- one with good average daily weight gain and good conversion, or the amount of weight an animal gains compared to the amount of feed it consumes.
Morrison said it's a gamble. The animals go to slaughter in mid July and the awards banquet is late July, where the bidders find out the results. Morrison said some in the industry have been sustaining losses for three or so years, and when "times are tough, you don't go to Vegas as many times."
But, Morrison said, the auction audience is usually the same group every year, and it's a way to socialize with those in the industry, those who are "fighting the same fight."
Lew Branscum, cattle foreman for Hitch Feeders II, said some people head to the casinos to take a gamble.
"This is my gambling deal," he said of the auction. Branscum bids in a group and says his group has had the champion and reserve steers a couple of times.
"We'll spend some money tonight," he said, adding they don't really have a strategy. "It changes as you go."
BED Board President Darinda Gerber estimated about 160 people attended the auction, adding they were, at first, worried about attendance with the economy down, but things seemed to be working out Friday night.
"We still have a positive outlook," she said of those in the industry, adding there have been tough years before and things will pick up again.
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