The Stockyard

Today was the baby’s first trip to the stockyard!

We had a cow to sell and regular auction day is not until Tuesday, but on Thursday you can take cull cows over and they will be put on the "rail" and sold somewhere  else.

Everybody likes to go to the stockyard.  For the farmers it’s the anticipated sale; the chance to visit with other farmers;  the truck ride with the wife and maybe some kids; and a potential stop for a treat on the way home.  For the kids it’s the opportunity to ride in the truck with Dad, to see all the trucks & trailers lined up, and to check out what everyone along the way is up to. And the treat, of course!

Today we went to the Lake Odessa Livestock Auction.  We had one cow, and we picked up a cow for a friend on the way.  One of the most skilled decisions a farmer can make is knowing just when to sell a cow.  They may be old, ill, or have some other problem- no matter what her issue is we don’t want them to die on the farm.  A cow dieing on the farm is a loss of potential income, another bill for the rendering truck, and frankly, a waste of meat.

Going to the Lake Odessa Livestock Auction:

Loading up for the trip!



Our truck and a borrowed cattle trailer.

The unloading area at the auction.

Usually, this parking lot is full of trucks and trailers, but Thursdays are not nearly as busy as Tuesdays.  Probably because the café is closed. (LOL)

Most farmers affectionately refer to the stockyard as "Lako"

Here you are, Iva-thanks for your contribution!

Unloading the cows into the barn.

 

When I was around 14, my parents were converting their year-round calving herd to a seasonal herd, where the cows would all calve in April and May.  During that summer, my dad made a lot of trips to the stockyard.  They were mostly cows that were not bred at the right time for a spring calving.  I went with him most every time.  He went to the auction in St. Louis.  He would  load up the cows, stop by the house and I would jump in the truck.  We would stop at Beck’s on the way for a pop and maybe a snack. Sometimes we’d talk, sometimes we’d just be quiet, or I would bring a book along.  On the Monday before the first day of school in August,  I remember him yelling up the stairs, asking if I was coming.   I decided to not go that day. It was my last day of summer vacation, and I wanted  to do other things. I have always regretted not going.  After that summer we didn’t have as many cattle to send, and often he hired our local trucker to take them. Soon, when I started driving myself, he would send me to auction with cattle so he could work on things at home.  Turns out those trips to the auction were precious times.

Since then, I have only been to the auction with Dad a small handful of times. One time, after our oldest was born, the three of us went to Lake Odessa (where we went today) and he bought us lunch at the stockyard café, to celebrate the baby’s first time at the livestock auction.  I can’t even begin to count how many times that child has been since!

If I had one of those calendar’s where you record all of baby’s “firsts”, I would definitely put a sticker on today’s trip to the stockyard.  Might seem kind of weird to other people, but these are the days that are special to us.

Don’t miss an opportunity to spend time with people that matter to you.  Soon your circumstances will change and that opportunity might not come around again. So go ahead! Jump in the truck and ride along to the stockyard, the store, the neighbors, wherever it is that life takes you.

-Terri