MAKING AUCTIONS WORK FOR YOU

Commercial auctions are largely  sales outlets for goats destined for slaughter.  A  significant part of that population are  "culls."   "Cull" means  anything from less-than-breeding-stock quality to does with poor mothering skills or mastitis to goats with health problems, some of which are unmanageable/incurable (ex: Johnes and Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis) but  can still be sold for meat consumption.  Commercial auctions are not where you should be trying to find and buy breeding stock.

Large commercial meat-goat producers probably use auctions less than any other category of goat raiser, shipping hundreds of   goats by  truckloads  to contract buyers weekly throughout the year.  If they have a problem with a breeding doe or buck, it can be put on the trailer with other goats headed for slaughter.

Meat-goat producers must learn when and how to use commercial auctions to their benefit.  Slaughter-goat producers must have their goats ready for markets at times when demand is highest. Historically those times in the USA are before western  Easter and between Thanksgiving and Christmas, plus prior to Muslim holidays (dates change each year but Muslim calendars are available on the Internet).  Historically, live weights of 45 to 60 pounds bring the most money per pound (some regional exceptions may apply). Goat meat sales are significantly an ethnic market, details of  which you must  learn  in your area.

If goats are ready for market when prices are low, it may be more cost effective to sell them rather than hold and feed them until market conditions improve.

Small producers would be wise to develop a local ethnic clientele to whom they can sell directly from the farm. If this sales method is not desirable (examples: people living alone who don't want strangers dropping in, dogs on site that might bite visitors, locations too remote to pull much traffic), then using a commercial auction is the reasonable alternative. Unless producers have developed a local market for their goats, commercial auctions may be the best sales path.

Everyone who raises goats  to sell for meat should become familiar with the meat-goat market in their areas. Learn about local ethnic groups and their meat preferences. Locate several of the closest commercial auctions and visit before the sale to find out how goats are treated in the pens.  Learn the auction process  and who the buyers are. Order buyers in Texas make the rounds of every significant commercial auction (called "commission companies" in Texas) each week. They have accounts established at each auction and may be told in advance what will be offered for sale.

If a producer has  a heathy and meaty  group of goats to take to the sale, he should contact the auction manager or auctioneer about  10 days prior to delivering the goats so that these animals can be advertised to draw motivated buyers. Don't expect to be able to sell directly to order buyers; they aren't going to spend their time going to individual farms to examine, buy, and pick up small groups of goats nor are they going to buy directly from you at the auction site. Order buyers have established arrangements with each commercial auction for payment and delivery that  goat raisers cannot match.

Realize that  goats sold at commercial auctions are commingled  with   other goats during sorting and penning and  may have been exposed to organisms for which they have not had time to develop immunities or may have incurable diseases like CAE or Johnes.    Some of these goats may have been through the auction before, bought, taken home, determined not to be what the buyer wanted, and returned for sale once again. Some people buy and sell goats regularly at auction, trying to make money on the spread in prices at different sales. Buyers at auctions -- any type of auction -- get what they see and what they don't see. There are no guarantees or warranties given at auctions.

If they are destined for slaughter, this is not a problem.  However, a producer  who wants to buy goats from a commercial auction to take home to use for breeding purposes should be wary of their origins and exposures. Understand that auctions are busy places that operate on tight timeframes.  Some auctions attempt to place a seller's goats in a lot by themselves and run them through the ring together. If the seller has only a few goats, they get mixed in with others, usually of similar size and weight.

Shipping and the stress of unfamiliar surroundings stresses the goats, causing them to lose weight quickly.  Most auctions automatically reduce weight recorded at weigh-in by 1% to 2%, because they know the goats will lose weight between weigh-in and  auction ring.

If you are intent on trying to find goats to breed, if permitted  before the sale, walk the pens and determine goats of interest. Attempt to learn who is selling them and why they are being sold. Did the seller raise them or buy them from someone else for re-sale? Ask the goats' ages, backgrounds, breed or crossbreed, breeding status (open, bred, just kidded, recently weaned kids, how many times bred -- if female). If possible, check does' udders for mastitis and young intact males for conditions like undescended testicles and urinary calculi.

Examine each goat identified for possible purchase and find out as much as possible about it and its owner before the auction begins. If this isn't possible, and often it is not, then goats purchased should be checked for these defects when taken home . . . or preferably not purchased in the first place.   Buying cheap usually means  buying someone else's problems. That goat will turn out to be the most expensive animal you ever owned.

I am a firm believer that you do not find quality breeding stock at goat auctions.  People take their problem goats (worn-out does and bucks, goats with heavy wormloads or other health issues, etc.) to auctions to off-load them, hoping that uneducated buyers will pay breeding rather than slaughter prices.

I view  commercial auctions as places to sell goats destined for human consumption, but only if you haven't been able to find local buyers to whom you can sell direct.

American meat-goat raisers do not produce enough animals to satisfy consumer meat demand much less provide breeding-quality goats to commercial auctions.     Goat population in the USA dropped from 12 million in 1990 to 1.9  million in 2013, and that number has remained fairly constant.   About 40% of all the goat meat sold in this country is imported frozen (mostly from Australia) and can be imported and sold more cheaply than Americans can produce goats.

The goat population in the USA has gone DOWN in the last 30 years.  There are no surplus quality breeding goats found at goat auctions.   Quality breeding stock is found from private breeders and sometimes at auctions specializing in breeding animals.

Commercial goat auctions serve a vital purpose in each producer's business plan. Whether selling or buying is the goal, everyone who raises goats must learn  how auctions can work for them

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas    8.1.24

The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)

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