Steer shopping a lesson in patience, faith
“It’s all a gamble.” As the familiar chant from the auctioneer rang in my ears, that’s all I could think of—how much a gamble showing cattle is.
I was at my fourth Kansas Livestock Foundation Club Calf Sale in Hutchinson, Kansas, recently and this time around it felt a little bit different.
The first three sales I was full of dread and had studied the calves up one side and down the other. Plus, the program—pedigrees, birthdates, weights, and breeders—all had to be considered. Doubts were in my head as I worried we’d pick the wrong one. After all, this was nearly every dollar my kid had earned from previous livestock projects. Plus, our budget wasn’t unlimited and we needed the most bang for our buck.
My oldest son Shaun and I were nervous wrecks at the first KLF sale we went to because we’d bid on some pigs early in his 4-H career and both of us couldn’t take the anxiety it produced. We knew our beer (instead of champagne) budget going in would be tight. I think we bid on that first steer and got him bought by the skin of our teeth. The following years I was entirely too nervous to bid and left that to my brother-in-law.
His first KLF sale steer was a registered Angus calf from a great breeder who had him halter broke and ready to go. He reached out to us more than once and was eager to hear how the steer was doing. Same with his second steer’s breeder. I texted him photos and updates on the steer throughout the year. The breeder even traveled to our county fair to watch him compete.
His 2024-25 steer was just good from the get-go. He was easy going, gentle and loved to eat. I leaned on my sister and brother-in-law to help feed him and get him ready to show, and to whip Shaun into show shape. I misplaced the breeder contact information early on and didn’t have quite a relationship with them like I’d had before. That was on me though.
We intended to have a different plan for 2025-26 projects. A friend had a show heifer and steer available, and when I told the boys about them, they were all for it. Shaun had decided he was going to halter break the calf out of his brother’s Hereford heifer he showed a few years ago and use that as his steer, since the steer from my friend was much gentler for Chance. I wasn’t overly excited at this because I know Shaun’s work ethic, and neither one of us has much experience with breaking one, but we could get the job done in a pinch.
I’d heard the breeder of his previous steer was bringing calves to the KLF sale in Hutchinson again, and I thought it couldn’t hurt to look. Knowing what his answer would be, I went ahead and suggested to Shaun we sell the steer calf at home and buy one already broke. He ran with it.
Prior to the Saturday evening sale, the barn was a buzz with kids, parents and breeders. It was good to see the excitement and amazingly I had no anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Shaun had made a deal with his uncle for him to bid on some calves for him and he’d given him some numbers.
I happened to see the breeder of last year’s steer, Buddy, in the aisle. I stopped her and told her Shaun had gotten a steer from her at the last sale and how good he’d done with him. She seemed pleased and said she had Buddy’s maternal brother. He looked nearly identical. I put him on my list.
Evidently, Shaun knows how to pick one because the calves he’d earmarked went high. I wasn’t shocked, as the ones I had my eye on went high too. Buddy’s brother was near the end of the sale, and I told my brother-in-law our budget and the details on the calf. When he appeared in the ring, I was asked, “do you want me to bid?” I said, “yeah, go for it.” We didn’t have to go over our budget and we got him bought.
When the sale was over, the boys helped a guy from Ford County get his cattle to their new owners and pack up their stuff. Shaun asked if we’d got anything bought and I said, “yeah, Buddy’s brother.” He took it upon himself to find the breeder and get all the details lined out. He even helped arrange getting the new steer project home and stayed to help tear down stalls and get everything loaded.
Buying show calves is a first world problem and one that shouldn’t be as anxiety inducing as it is. It’s something these boys and I can do together. They’ve even clued their dad in on it and convinced him to help them invest in some registered heifers of their own. Now, as high as cattle prices are right now, it’s a scary proposition for an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old to have a note at the bank and a payment looming over their heads, but it’s more than I had at their age.
It’s still a gamble, as is everything in agriculture right now. But I hope it’s a lesson for all of us about patience, perseverance and hard work.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
