Small Cows, Big News: Summer Slow Down?

Hi everyone,

Wow, what a whirlwind it’s been over the last few months in the mini cattle world! I’ve also been busy behind the scenes with Creatures. More on that down below. Let’s catch up on the recent auction action, highlight some top sales, and identify emerging trends that have been shaping this market.

Top Sales & Highlights from Recent Auctions

Bougie Cattle Co kicked the season off with the Spring Fling Mini Cow Auction on April 27th. The auction had strong results, with two calves hitting $15k+ and two more at $12k+. Interestingly, neither of the two top selling calves were silver or dun, which have been the most expensive colors in most recent auctions.

Cyrus Ridge Farm’s auction (May 14) saw solid results even though it was a relatively small group of calves for them. Two chondro-negative heifers sold for $16k each. Two lightly-tipped highpark calves didn’t do as well, with the bull calf only reaching $2550 which is quite low for Cyrus Ridge.

Pandarosa’s May 25 sale delivered some strong sales with a couple of chondro-positive heifers selling for $20k+, keeping Pandarosa’s average on the 22 calves well into five digits.

However, their next sale, the “Home of the Fluffy” Online Sale on June 29, told a slightly different story, with noticeably lower average prices compared to May. Many calves that might have brought $10k+ earlier ended closer to the $5k–$7k range, and none of the 17 calves sold hit the five-figure mark.

It was still a successful sale by industry standards, but for Pandarosa it felt a bit soft. Was it the summer timing? A slightly less buzzworthy calf crop? Or perhaps just buyer fatigue after so many events? Whatever the reason, it was a reminder that even the top players aren’t completely immune to market swings.

Market Trends: Shifts in Prices and Buyer Behavior

Highs, Lows, and No-Sales: The top of the mini cattle market is still impressive, but we did see some mixed signals these past months. For example, at Webb Cattle Company’s June Customer Showcase (a large consignment auction hosted on June 8), two heifer calves with unique coloring (one roan, one parti) took the highest sale prices at $18k and $15k.

However, a good handful of listings ended with “Reserve not met” despite bids on some in the $5k–$10k range. This trend wasn’t unique to Webb’s sale; many auctions lately have had a few no-sales.

Why the uptick in unsold lots? It could be reserves set a bit too high for the current market, or simply fewer bidders available for the flood of premium listings. I think it’s probably a bit of both. Sellers are still hoping for the peak prices of last year, but buyers now have more choices with so many auctions back-to-back. The result: if an animal isn’t an absolute standout, bidders are becoming price-conscious and won’t automatically hit the reserve. On the flip side, truly special animals will still fetch top dollar. It’s a healthy sign of the market maturing, with prices finding their level based on quality and demand.

Average Prices Cooling Off: Along with the individual highs, the averages in June were generally a notch lower than earlier in the spring. For instance, a multi-consignor event called the “Summer Moo’d Online Mini Cattle Sale” on June 22 had about two dozen lots and averaged roughly $4,800 per head, but the majority of lots did not meet their reserve prices. The early summer market softened a bit. Nothing drastic, but a trend to watch.

Collaborative Sales = Higher Prices: One very positive trend has been collaborative auctions. The Webb Customer Showcase in June had a whopping 51 lots from various breeders. Even with that many animals, the sale was quite successful; a majority of the lots sold, and bidders loved having so much variety in one place. Everyone benefited from the bigger pool of buyers all drawn in together by a group of breeders marketing together. I love this concept because it validates what I’m hoping to do with Creatures’ auction events – breeders working together to create buzz and attract more eyes.

New Auction Platforms Launch (And What That Means)

Two new online auction sites have entered the mini cattle scene recently: HighlandCowAuction.com and Elite-Miniatures.com. When I first saw these pop up, I’ll admit I had a moment of panic thinking, “Yikes, did I miss the boat with my own Creatures platform?” 😅 But after a deep breath, I’ve realized this is actually great news. It proves there’s strong demand and interest in online sales for hobby livestock, which hopefully confirms that I’m onto something with Creatures as well. Great minds think alike, right?

That said, these auctions on the new sites did have some hiccups. Both the Elite Miniatures auction (June 22) and the HighlandCowAuction’s first sale (June 29) featured some lovely calves but ended with quite a few lots not meeting their reserves. It appears that not enough bidders showed up or the reserve prices were set a bit too high. Or both? It’s hard launching a new marketplace from scratch! You need to attract a critical mass of buyers and convince sellers to be achieve liquidity.

And in the bigger picture, my vision for Creatures remains distinct: I’m aiming for something broader and more community-driven than just occasional auctions. In a way, seeing others try their hand only reinforces my gut feeling that our community needs a comprehensive platform, not just for sales, but for program management, networking, education, and more.

So, while I cheer on any innovation in our industry, I’m also doubling down on ensuring Creatures brings together the best of these ideas and avoids the pitfalls. 

Creatures: Sneak Preview and Call for Beta Testers

I mentioned it at the start, so here’s the scoop: Creatures, my software platform for animal people like us, is getting very close to launch. 🎉 

Over the last few months, I’ve been working hard on the site and incorporating feedback from early visitors like some of you. The vision is to have a one-stop community hub where we can keep track of our animals, buy and sell them when the time comes, host collaborative auctions, and share knowledge about all things animal related.

And now I need your help to make sure it’s ready for prime time. Please come join the sneak preview and beta test of Creatures! You’ll be among the first to try out the initial features:

• Sign up and create your account: This will help test the registration and sign-in process.

• Set up your business or breeder page: If you have a farm/ranch/breeding program, I would love for you to go ahead and create an “organization page” for it. This will eventually serve as your storefront in the community.

• Add a few of your animals! Yes, you can add one or all of your animals onto the platform now. Don’t worry, we’re not actually selling anything yet: these profiles just help you keep track of your animals and all the photos and videos you have of them. By adding an animal now, you’ll help me see if the forms and image/video uploads are working as expected.

I’m specifically looking for feedback on what’s confusing and any bugs you might find. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be in “bug-squashing mode” fixing whatever you discover.

I really appreciate your help in building Creatures into something that serves all of us. We’ll be launching the marketplace with seller verification and secure payments soon, followed by more health, program, and pedigree management tools.

Thanks so much for reading this far and for all your support along the way,

Elliott