Small Cows, Big News: Facebook’s Latest Crackdowns

Hello, everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a more complete traditional celebration a couple weeks early with my wife’s family, so our actual turkey day was a relatively laidback affair at home – just us and the kids. And all the animals, of course!

Unregistered Silver Highland Heifer Sells for $24,250

Congratulations to Webb Cattle Company and Circle AM Cattle Company on this highest priced sale from the auctions we were tracking over the last couple of weeks! You can see Sugar’s listing here, complete with really nice photos and a video – all giving potential buyers a great idea of what they were bidding on.

I was honestly surprised to see the lower prices in the same group’s AHCA-registered stock auction a week later. The top sales were a couple of nice looking heifer calves at $10,500 each, and the average sale price across the 18 listings was $7,375. This tells me that our market is still valuing the small size possible through crossbreeding over and above quality registered highlands.

These two auctions also made some waves in the community by showcasing a new auction software platform. Rather than using what has become the standard through W2 Auctions (AKA Willoughby Livestock Sales), the Webbs and their network used an alternative self-serve platform called AirAuctioneer. It seems to have gone pretty well, based on comments from the organizers and bidders!

One thing I appreciate seeing on the AirAuctioneer auctions is the full bid history with time stamps and bid amounts. Although it doesn’t completely remove the possibility of funny business on the backend, I think it’s a good step forward in transparency.

Cyrus Ridge Coming in Hot with 2nd & 3rd Top Sales

I signed up to take my family on a tour at Cyrus Ridge Farm almost three years ago, just weeks after we closed on the purchase of our own farm. Ben & Melanie were kind and welcoming as always, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know them a little better over the last couple of years.

They’ve done an amazing job of cultivating a strong social following for their program and have been successful in positioning themselves as experts in the industry. Their sales always impress me with the strong pricing across the board, and I haven’t seen the same downward trends in their auction results that we’re noticing elsewhere.

Interestingly, the two highest prices calves in this sale were bulls. One a chondro positive white 75% highland at $23,500, and the other a white 100% highland (chondro negative, of course!) selling at $21,500.

The 13 calves brought a total of $151,250, for an average of almost $12k per calf. Running an auction like that every couple-few months year after year – now that’s a pretty great business in my mind.

Facebook Cracks Down on Animal Groups & Pages

The biggest story in our community over the last couple of weeks was Facebook’s newest crackdown targeting animal-related groups and animal business pages. This is a tough issue, as I know it probably originates with good intentions of protecting people from scams and discouraging unethical breeding practices.

Unfortunately, the new AI-empowered algorithms seem to be set a little too strict, and many legitimate animal businesses and animal groups felt the ensuing wrath of the Facebook powers that be. I don’t envy the jobs of the moderators of these groups in times like this! Even as a member, it’s hard to know if it’s worth participating or sharing when it seems that any post could be interpreted as violating Facebook’s policies prohibiting the sale of live animals.

For these reasons and so many more, I’m even more excited to see the regular progress on my new Creatures platform – “modern software for animal people like us.” I get what Facebook is doing, but it has just made me realize even more that our community is missing an online place where we can feel good about hanging out, sharing stories, and creating content to support our animal businesses.

Imagine Facebook, but where discussions about the buying and selling of animals are not only allowed, but encouraged. Where intuitive and easy auction and ecommerce tools are built right in. Where you'll connect with other successful breeders and social media influencers who can help you reach a wider audience of potential buyers.

I can’t wait to share more and welcome you onboard in the weeks ahead!

Upcoming Auctions

Looks like things are beginning to slow down as we head into the holidays. Here are the upcoming auctions that I’m tracking, but please let me know if I’ve missed any.

December 11: MidAmerica Winter Wonderland Event

December 14: Pearly Ranch Miniature Cattle Co. Winter Calf Sale (Important to note that this is not an online auction, but rather an in-person sale at the farm with unclaimed calves being posted on the website at 2pm on the 14th. Love seeing people get creative with their sale methods!)

December 15: Derr Ridge Hello Winter Online Sale 

Last Call! First Annual Miniature Cattle Market Survey

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please go spend 10 minutes completing this simple survey which will help us all get a better understanding of the current state of the miniature cattle market.

All entrants who leave an email address when submitting their completed survey will be entered to win one of three $100 Amazon gift cards.

My goal is to analyze the survey results and get some of the data back out to you in my next newsletter.

Until Next Time

Thanks so much for joining me!

Elliott