Let’s Consider : Visit to area sale barn brings back farm memories
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/hl/Lifestyles/24454/
A recent spring Thursday took my husband and me out to the Benton County Sale Barn for lunch in their cafe and some entertainment in the sales pavilion.
We were each raised on Iowa farms in the 1950 s, when family farms were numerous in the Midwest, when a farmer could support his family on a modest number of acres, and his wife could stay at home caring for the children, the yard, the chickens, the big garden. As the children grew, they joined in the farm duties and helped make it a success.
My dad’s farm was 360 acres, and included plenty of row crops, pasture for cattle and sheep, and pens for hogs. My husband grew up on a 180-acre farm.
My dad attended the livestock sale at the sale barn in our county seat town when he was ready to buy or sell livestock. I remember accompanying him on occasion, just for the fun of it.
Since then there have been “ sale barn cafes” where my husband and I liked to go for a good, home-cooked meal on occasion. Some were open only on “ sale day” while others were open regularly like any café.
Sale barns are mostly built in the same general fashion, no matter their location or region of the country. A café is attached because the buyers and sellers of the livestock need a place to eat lunch on sale day.
The arena features bleacher-like seats, so the buyers and sellers can sit, watch the animals that are being auctioned and visit with their neighbors and friends, and buyers can make their bids and purchases. The curious (that’s what we were on that recent day ) can also sit among the guys (and the occasional girl ) on the bleachers.
The animals to be auctioned are kept in pens at the rear of the arena “ stage. ” On the stage are the auctioneer (s ) and record-keeper (s ) who keep track of the sellers, the buyers, and the bids offered for any given animal.
A pen is located between the stage and the bleachers where the animals are brought in from the rear pens, to be sold at auction. A couple of guys handle the animals in the pen as the bidding continues, then the animals are chased out of the spotlight to another pen in the rear to await their new owner. A new animal is immediately brought in and the bidding continues. Sometimes the cattle come in pairs or bunches, sometimes they are sold as singles.
Since I haven’t attended a sale at a sale barn for a number of years, the use of the computer monitors hanging on the walls above the stage was new to me. I could see that the system would be a great help to the sellers and the buyers, with its display showing the weight of the animal (s ) being auctioned off, the final price agreed on between the auctioneer and the buyer, and total hundred-weight. It also showed the average price being paid for calves, heifers and steers that day.
I thought, as we observed the sale, about the several “ mysteries” at a sale barn — as far as I’m concerned. Most mysterious of all is the lingo of the auctioneer. We like to attend an occasional auction of household goods so I have learned to understand most auctioneers, especially after I listen closely to them and figure out their particular “ lingo ” and mannerisms. Each auctioneer has his own way of “ crying” a sale, usually with some humor to hold the attention of the bidding customers.
Another mystery at any auction is the “ unknown bidder. ” Some bidders are bold and easy to spot as they raise a hand to make a bid. Others want to remain unseen by everyone except the auctioneer. These will bid with just the slightest movement — of the head, the hand, the eyes, whatever. A huge part of auctioneering is learning to “ catch the bid” when the bidder is not wanting to be noticed. And a huge part of the fun for me at an auction is the attempt to identify the bidder (s ) while the item or, at the sale barn, the animal is being sold.
What was not a mystery that day was the wonderful lunch we enjoyed at the sale barn on that Thursday. The café was clean and the food was good home cooking, with every item being easily identified and enjoyed.
Another thing that was not a mystery was the “ aroma” of the selling arena — it was purely “ farm animal” but to this old farm girl there was no surprise in it. In fact, it brought just a whiff of nostalgia for those days on the farm with chores of gathering eggs, milking cows — and sorting livestock with our dad, so he could take some to the sale barn and our mom could have a new dress.