The Story in Van Winkle Hollow
A quiet place along Highway 12 between Rogers and Eureka Springs holds...
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Livestock auctions have been part of Arkansas farm life for generations. Farmers bring cattle and other animals to sell, buyers come looking for livestock that fits their needs, and the auction brings the two together in a competitive marketplace.
For a farmer, that marketplace matters. Selling livestock isn’t as simple as deciding what a cow is worth and putting a price tag on it. Prices change with supply and demand, the condition and weight of the animal, and what’s happening in the cattle industry well beyond Arkansas. At an auction, multiple buyers can bid, allowing the market to help determine the price.
If you’ve ever sold anything through Craigslist, Marketplace or even the old-fashioned newspaper classified ads, you know that private sales can be tricky and uncertain. At most livestock auctions, the sale barn handles the sale and payment between buyer and seller, which removes the uncertainty of private sales. That can be especially valuable for small Arkansas producers who may only have a few animals to sell.
While buying and selling is the reason for livestock auctions, spend time at a sale barn, and you’ll quickly realize there is another side to auction day. There are serious buyers and sellers, but folks also come to visit, watch and see what’s going through the ring that week. For some Arkansans, it’s a social event they’ve enjoyed for decades.
Arkansas Cattle Auction in Searcy
At the Arkansas Cattle Auction in Searcy, sale day comes every Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Randy Goodman had been interested in marketing cattle since childhood and operated a cattle buying station for several years. As that business grew, his employer purchased the Searcy sale barn in 2007 and gave Goodman the opportunity to operate it. Randy and his wife, Melissa, purchased the business themselves in 2010.
A lot has changed since Randy first became involved in the cattle industry. Animal identification and livestock movement are more regulated. Technology has changed the way sales are clerked and managed. Market news can quickly influence cattle prices hundreds of miles away.
The basic rhythm of sale day, however, would still look familiar to generations of Arkansas farmers. Cattle arrive on trailers and are unloaded, checked in, penned and sorted in preparation for the sale. By the time the auction starts, buyers and sellers have gathered, and there is plenty of visiting going on in the stands. Once the cattle begin moving through the ring, the auctioneer and bid spotters keep things moving. On the other side of the sale, cattle are loaded again and headed to their next destination.
An average sale at Arkansas Cattle Auction moves about 700 to 900 head, with around 50 to 60 people attending. Sales last six to eight hours, although the Goodmans and their staff put in a much longer day preparing before the first animal enters the ring and finishing the work afterward.
Arkansas Cattle Auction draws buyers from within Arkansas as well as buyers representing several other states. The barn says it regularly has more than 10 serious order buyers present, creating plenty of competition when cattle enter the ring.
Those buyers may be filling larger orders or purchasing cattle destined for feedlots and other operations. For the farmer bringing cattle to Searcy, having multiple serious buyers in the seats is important. More competition can mean a stronger market for the animals they’re selling.
You Don’t Have to Own Cattle to Go
You don’t have to be a farmer or have plans to buy a cow to spend a little time at the sale barn. The Goodmans regularly have people come just to watch, including families looking for something different to do during summer break. It’s an easy way to get a closer look at a part of Arkansas agriculture that many of us pass by every day without really knowing much about. You may not understand the auctioneer’s chant or how cattle are priced at first, but that’s part of learning how the whole process works.
Melissa Goodman does have one practical piece of advice for first-time visitors: don’t sit too close to the sale ring. With cattle moving through all day, there is always the possibility that a little manure could get kicked into the audience. Consider yourself warned.
Thirty Years of Stories
After decades in the cattle business, Randy and Melissa have collected plenty of memorable auction days. Randy still remembers stepping into the sale ring for the first time with a large crowd in the stands and about 1,000 head of cattle waiting to be sold. The drought of 2012 brought another day they won’t soon forget. With grass and hay in short supply, farmers were bringing unusually large numbers of cattle to market, and CBS Evening News came to Searcy to report on the drought and its effect on cattle producers. Once, in the middle of an already busy sale, a hay barn on the neighboring property caught fire. Fortunately, firefighters were able to put it out before the flames spread.
Some of the stories that mean the most to the Goodmans are much quieter. Over the years, they have watched multiple generations of the same families come through the barn, and they especially enjoy seeing young producers find their place in the industry. “We love to see the young, up and coming producers get their start and be part of this industry we enjoy,” Melissa said. Sometimes that start is as simple as a child buying a bottle calf for a project. Years later, that same child may return as a producer with cattle of their own to sell. It’s a small example of how agricultural knowledge, businesses and traditions continue to pass from one generation of Arkansas farmers to the next.
Not Every Farmer Is Looking for the Same Thing
Arkansas Cattle Auction serves farmers who benefit from having a strong group of buyers gathered in one place. Some of those buyers are purchasing larger numbers of cattle to fill orders for feedlots, replacement cattle and other markets, and that competition can be good for the farmer bringing cattle to sell. But Arkansas farms come in all sizes, and what one producer needs from an auction can be very different from what another is looking for.
A friend of mine who raises livestock told me her family occasionally sells cattle in Searcy, but when they’re buying, they often enjoy smaller sales. With a smaller herd and different types of cattle, they may be looking for miniature cattle, Highlands, a family milk cow or just something interesting that happens to come through the ring. “You never know what you’ll see or what kind of bargain you can find at the cow sale,” she told me.
That’s part of what makes exploring different livestock auctions interesting. Smaller and alternative livestock sales may have goats, sheep, chickens, bottle calves, miniature cattle and sometimes animals you wouldn’t expect to see at a traditional cattle sale. One farmer may be looking for a single milk cow, while another needs a few goats or wants to add a particular breed to a small herd. And sometimes a family comes just to see what shows up. The needs are different, but the auction still serves the same basic purpose it has for generations: bringing people with livestock to sell together with people looking to buy.
A few Central Arkansas options include:
Johnny Smith Livestock in Plumerville is one of the smaller livestock sales my friend recommended for farmers who want to see what comes through the ring.
Farther north, Salem Stockyards, operated by Dustin Cotter in Salem, offers a broad mix of livestock. Sale listings have included cattle, goats, sheep, horses, donkeys, bottle calves and other animals, making it the kind of place where the inventory can vary considerably from one sale to another.
Beebe Goat and Sheep Auction is another option, particularly for people interested in sheep and goats. You can also check out the Beebe Flea Market and Sale Barn for smaller animals like rabbits and backyard chickens.
Finding a Livestock Auction Near You
The auctions I’ve mentioned are centered around my part of Arkansas, but they represent only a small portion of what’s available statewide.
Arkansas has sale barns serving most of its major cattle-producing regions. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service maintains reports for many Arkansas livestock auctions, making its Arkansas cattle auction directory and market reports a good place to start looking for a sale near you. The reports are useful for farmers, but they’re also interesting for anyone who wants to better understand how livestock moves through Arkansas agriculture. A few other good resources include:
Arkansas Livestock and Poultry
Arkansas Farm, Livestock and Equipment of the Ozarks
Arkansas Sheep and Goat Community
Before heading to an auction, check with the sale barn for its current schedule and whether visitors are welcome. Weekly cattle sales are common, while sheep, goat and alternative livestock sales may only be held on certain dates. You never quite know what will come through the ring, which is part of what makes stopping by interesting even if you aren’t there to buy.
More than anything, spending time at a livestock auction is a reminder that agriculture isn’t just something happening in fields we drive past. There are people raising the animals, people looking for the right livestock for their farms and businesses like the Goodmans’ that help bring the two together. The details of the business have changed over the years, but that basic relationship hasn’t. And every week, in sale barns across Arkansas, another generation is learning how it all works.
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