3-12-2025 ICE UPDATE

Hello All:

This is it! You shouldn’t have to endure any more updates before the sale. Bulls and heifers are currently around the farmstead in the pens. We are feeding them hay (crying emoji!!!). This should help the animals look a little “fuller,” but we are in no way trying to cover up anything. They will still look like they are in their work clothes. Early Saturday Ashley and crew will get them sorted into their pens for viewing. Our intention is for the sale to start at 11 am on the 15^th. We will have live and online bidding. Please call with questions, sooner rather than later. I typically handle program or “philosophy” questions, and Ashley handles the specific animal and sale questions as she knows the animals far better than I do. I tell people that I manage the forest and she the trees.

The long way is often the short cut.

Please…register ahead of time with DVAuction. If you have any questions, we should get that sorted out before sale day. You can register at the sale for in-person bidding. Ashley will be handling all of the Sight Unseen bids, so if you want her to bid, please let her know as soon as possible. She will handle your bid with the highest integrity and never bid more than is necessary to acquire an animal.

Transportation/Load Sharing: Transportation is something we aim to help our customers arrange. Before, during, and after the sale, Kristin tries to connect buyers with animals going the same direction.  We cannot always find shared transportation but will work with everyone as best we can and are frequently able to find arrangements that benefit all parties involved. For any animals that will spend an extra week with us while health papers are finalized, there is typically sufficient time to help people contact each other to make arrangements. Sale day is hectic, however, and in the busyness of the sale fog, we might miss something so advance communication is very helpful. Currently there are potential cattle going to Minnesota, Texas, Oregon, Wyoming and Colorado.  Some customers are coming the day of the sale that can haul. Phil Otten is a great customer who has attended several of our sales and is from Pilger (northern) NE. He has hauled several animals over the years for others and plans to be here Saturday. If you plan to be at the sale with a trailer and are willing to haul for others, please message Kristin as soon as possible.  If you won’t need health papers, be sure to get in touch with Kristin ASAP so she can be on the lookout for someone that might be hauling your direction on sale day to whom she can give your contact information.  We’ve had people make the trip to our place to pick up their own animals when the animals could’ve gone with someone else sale day had we known early enough. We love getting to meet our customers in person, but we prefer saving you the miles, gas, and time if we can.  PLEASE…if you have someone haul your cattle be GENEROUS compensating them for their trouble. Yes, you can think, “It doesn’t cost them any more to have my animal ride,” but to save the time and expense of making the trip is VERY valuable (and it does cost them some time and trouble). If you want to calculate the real value, take at least $2.25 times the number of loaded miles, that’s at least what you would pay for a commercial pickup and trailer.

David defeated Goliath but lost to Bathsheba. Our current giants are as dangerous as our former ones.

Bred Heifers/Jenkinson Cows: are all bred to calve in May/June, except late bred cows (toward end of sale-Lots 110-126 and 132) and a couple late bred heifers (Lots 83 & 91) which are all bred to calve in July/August. You may need to apply for A.I. certificates for registerable calves if you want them registered. We can help facilitate that. If you have an amazing heifer or bull, I highly recommend developing them for your own program. If you’re going to sell them, please let me know and I might buy them back at a premium.

Lot 86 was awaiting the results of a DNA test for her registration number and data to be available.  You can now find that information updated on the website (but missing from the printed catalogs).

Great News…Grandma Doreen now IS planning to be here for the sale! So, food (particularly cinnamon rolls and cookies) should be aplenty. There will be an all-you-can-eat hamburger feed during and after the sale. I encourage you to interact with people at the sale. Our customers are the best. You might learn something and make a friend. You might figure out you can share a bull because you have different breeding seasons (there I go, being stupid again!). We desperately want our customers to succeed. We want our customers to be able to thank God for the cattle He has produced through ICE. It’s His operation. Only His glory matters. We claim none.

You can spend a lot of life thinking about what people think about you. The truth is…they don’t…don’t waste your time.