At slack times most of the buyers at an auction are local butchers and packers. If there is a shortage of cattle, they may go so far as to bid against each other seriously. But in a world where things are as they are rather than as they should be, competitive bidding on livestock is sometimes less than reality. I sat behind a row of buyers one afternoon and restrained an impulse to clop one over the head with my loaded handbag. My good old cow was being switched around in the ring and the auctioneer was getting some lively response.
Prosperity is in the air, keyed up to the clatter of the spieler and the yelps of the ring men.
Your cattle have as good a chance as the next one's, and you needn't worry because salesmanship was left out of your make-up. But never, never, can you lean back with a comfortable feeling that you have it made. The human error factor pops up at auctions behind the scenes, and it has a special sting. If you sell directly to a buyer, your bollixes are your own fault, and maybe you can learn a lesson. At a busy animal mart, you are at the mercy of other people's foul-ups.