Q. Why should I schedule a time with Spiritwood Stockyards for delivering my calves?
A. For show pen sales we use a graduated shrink and cattle weighed off truck, therefore, it is to your advantage to have the cattle weighed as quickly . Scheduled time slots for delivery also helps avoid long lineups of trucks waiting to be unloaded. All show pen cattle must be in the stockyards by 3 pm Tuesday to qualify. There will be no exceptions.

Q. Are calves fed and watered for show pen cattle?
A. YES ! As soon as your calves have been brand inspected and weighed, your calves go on feed and water in bedded pens. This way, your calves will look their best on sale day and arrive at their final destination in better condition.

Q. Why are some groups mixed colors?
A. In some groups, color is immaterial.In other groups, conformation and color both play an important role. Therefore, you will see that we mix colors in the same group.

Q. How many front row buyers do you have? 
A. At Spiritwood Stockyards, we usually have 7 to 10 buyers in our front row. Our front row is as strong or even stronger than any of our competitors.

Q. Why do you separate frozen ears and tails? Does it affect feedlot performance?
A. If ears and tails are frozen, chances are that feet have also been frozen. In many cases, this will not show up until the middle of winter. This will most definitely affect feedlot performance.If feet do not show any sign of frost as yearlings, the discount is very small.

Q. Why does a rat tailed grey bring less money that a good haired grey?
A. In many cases a rat tail will not perform as well in the feedlot. Even if they do perform as well, appearance does play a role and a normal calf with full hair is the preferred calf.

Q. Why do you call my calves stags when I know that I have recently cut them?
A. If bulls have been cut late, they will still look coarse, meaning long tassels, thick neck and smoothed haired heads. Buyers will need to physically feel every calf to satisfy themselves that they, in fact, have been properly cut and not had a poor castration done. Bulls cut after 4 months may well be coarse.

Q. Is it a good money making idea to wean my calves 2 to 3 weeks before selling?
A. NO. It is not a good idea to prewean your calves. As a matter of fact, it is a sure way to lose money. Calves weaned 2 to 3 weeks before a sale are very susceptible to various disease. These calves also have less stamina. At this stage, these calves look their worst in the their pot bellies and have hair standing on end. If you wean early, be prepared to hold them for a minimum of 6 weeks before selling, We can not sort these stale cows in with the freshly weaned calves.

Q. Do you ever get too many calves at a sale?
A. At Spiritwood Stockyards we can comfortable handle up to 3000 head per sale. As far as buyers are concerned, it is never too many.At certain times of the year and if there are big sales all around us, trucks are much harder to acquire to transport the animals away. This lack of transportation can affect prices to some degree.

Q. What can I do to help my calves look better on sale day?
A. We are glad that you asked. The biggest problem for us is that trailers have been loaded with too many calves or trailers have not been cleaned out. In either case, calves have come in very dirty. Even with bedding in pens, they do not clean up before sale day. If it is a custom trucker, insist that he cleans his trailer if he hasn't done so already. Do not force him to load too many calves on the trailer as it will cost you money