Small Cows, Big News: A Tale of Three Auctions

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A Tale of Three Auctions: Market Deep Dive

This week, we're taking a close look at three recent auctions that tell a fascinating story about where our miniature cattle market stands as we head into the holiday season. The contrasts between these sales give us some valuable insights into what buyers are looking for and how different marketing approaches might affect final prices.

Pandarosa's Premium Performance

Pandarosa Farms continues to set the pace for premium pricing in our industry, with their latest sale achieving some remarkable numbers:

• Total sales reached an impressive $252,820

• Heifers led the way with an average price of $12,417

• The top heifer commanded $25,000

How incredible is that: over $250k from just 31 calves in a single auction! I loved this line from one of Pandarosa’s Facebook posts leading up to the auction:

From what I’ve seen over the last couple of years, Pandarosa holds auctions every 2-3 months. If these numbers are consistent, that means they’ve likely been making 7-figures in annual revenue. I know Panderosa is somewhat controversial in our community, but they’ve done a great job on the business side of things, and we can all learn from that.

One unique feature of the Pandarosa auctions is their bull/steer option strategy. Basically, the buyer pays double the final auction price if they want the calf to remain a bull prior to shipping. Pandarosa also limits future semen sales from these bull calf sales, which I’m guessing has a slight negative impact on price point.

If all eligible males in this auction were kept as bulls, the total sale value jumps to $308,070! This really highlights the premium that quality marketing strategies command in today's market.

So what were some of these strategies? Realistically, the biggest factor here is the well-established brand and faithful engagement through social media that Pandarosa has demonstrated over the years. I noticed that they really kicked things into gear on social media in the couple of weeks prior to the auction. They also partnered with a trending influencer in the space, Katie Van Slyke, to produce a great video about her recent acquisition of a couple Pandarosa calves. I’m curious what she paid for these calves, if anything! Based on the auction results, it seems like Katie’s support really paid off.

I love this concept of partnering with influencers and will be digging into that more in the months ahead. My hope is to provide a way for all of us to do that more effectively!

One other interesting bit of data from this auction: chondro positive animals averaged $9,858, a whopping 70% premium over their chondro negative counterparts which averaged $5,781. To be honest, this does make me wonder if I should be more seriously considering adding a chondro+ bull to my herd.

A Peculiar Farm's Strong Middle Market

A Peculiar Farm's auction showed us the healthy middle market, bringing together six consignors and a wide variety of listing types.

• Total cattle sales of $141,435

• An impressive 97% completion rate (34 out of 35 lots sold)

• Strong cow/calf pair pricing averaging $10,631

• Solid heifer prices averaging $5,495

The chondro premium remained significant here. Positive animals averaged $7,000 compared to $3,551 for negatives, representing a 97.1% premium.

Willoughby's Volume Approach

Willoughby Livestock Sales took a different approach, focusing on volume with more accessible pricing for their Fall Highland & Mini Cattle Consignment Sale:

• Total cattle sales reached $50,555

• Average price per lot was $2,106

• 77% completion rate (24/31 lots sold)

• Heifers still led the categories at $2,417 average

Interestingly, the chondro premium nearly disappeared here, with positives averaging $2,167 versus $2,098 for negatives – just a 3.3% premium – potentially suggesting that at certain price points or sale formats, this trait becomes much less of a factor in buyer decision-making.

What Does All This Tell Us?

These three auctions paint a picture of a market with distinct tiers:

1. Premium tier: Where branding and social media success drive significant premiums.

2. Middle market: Where quality still commands respect but at more moderate prices.

3. Volume market: Where accessibility and affordability take precedence.

It’s clear that there's room for success at multiple price points, but presentation, marketing, and target audience alignment are crucial factors in determining where your cattle will fall on this spectrum.

From my perspective, the “quality” and mature size of the actual cattle do not seem to be as important here as many of us might hope or expect. I’ve always been somewhat amazed that Pandarosa doesn’t share anything about their breeding cows at all. I think we’re probably safe to assume that they are standard Scottish Highland cows generally falling in the mid-miniature size range.

Looking Ahead

Here are the upcoming auctions that I’m tracking, but please let me know if I’ve missed any.

November 29: Highland Genetics Auction

December 1: Webb Cattle Company Unregistered Stock

December 4: Cyrus Ridge Farm Autumn 2024 Auction

December 8: Webb Cattle Company AHCA Registered Stock

December 7: HHCA Highland Cattle Fall Auction

I’d really love to get some guesses on which listing from these auctions will reach the highest price! Just reply to this email or comment below – if you’re right, you might just get a special prize.

Until next time

Thanks so much for joining me. I hope you learned something, and I look forward to learning even more from you in the future.

Elliott

P.S. Don't forget about our ongoing Market Survey! We're getting great responses, but would love to hear from even more of you. Complete the survey here for a chance to win one of three $100 Amazon gift cards.