AUCTION YARD
Dirt lot six days a week,
pens empty five,
no place to park
among the pickups, goosenecks
and aluminum big rigs –
no stanchions for assorted sizes
waiting for a load of cows
bred up-close for
a seven hundred dollar calf
this time next year.
I hear my father in my head,
'When the parking lot’s full,
go home and bring a load to town,
but be buying when it’s empty -
the majority’s usually wrong.'
Robbin and I went to town to see some bred-heifers, that we sold last year as yearlings, sell – to see how they compared with their mates at home bred to the Wagyu, due to start calving next month – wishing we had them back with plenty of grass left. Of special value to us: native cattle and our genetics. Knew when we pulled into the parking lot that we couldn’t afford them. Damn, they looked good, fetching $1,425 – 1,485 ea. Wow, what a market!