You build a reputation over time, and with these tight controls, buyers' expectations should be better. Hopefully they'll be back for more. The cattle in the sales undergo a weaning program that prepares calves for optimal performance on grass or in the feedyard. In preparing for the two recent sales, staff downloaded health information on each consigned calf into the auction's computer. Next, calves were weighed, sorted and resorted as to weights, breed types and body scores.
More uniform going in is more uniform going out.
Uniform truckloads of cattle are then offered to buyers. It makes the calves easier to sell because it's easier for us to tell our buyers the story of the cattle. Plus the fact that they were offered in truckloads makes it a much more efficient sale. Schwertner, who is also president of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, suggested that another advantage of the trace-back system used by the Jordans is that it makes buyers aware of the producers of better cattle and the regions from which they come for future reference. That, according to Leslie Callahan of eMerge Interactive, a Sebastian, Fla. company, is proof that the industry is ready to support this kind of sale.