John Nino, a PCC customer from California, showed up at our Nebraska Bull Sale last Saturday. He and a couple of companions were in the area to buy some horses. John purchased some bulls while at the sale. While he was waiting for health papers, he came into the office to visit. John shared the following story with everyone in the office – a story that I remember very well.
The morning of our 2007 Colorado Fall Bull Sale (12 years ago), John called the PCC office at about 8:30 to submit some late sight-unseen bids on calving ease Black and Red Angus bulls. I was in a hurry to get to the sale location in Burlington, Colorado – so I was probably a little short and rude with John. Thankfully, John doesn’t remember it that way.
John said he wanted five calving ease bulls and gave me a long list of bulls he wanted to bid $3000 on. I promptly (and arrogantly) told him he would probably not get any of those bulls for $3000. In response, John said he would increase his bid to $3500. I told him he would be lucky get any of those bulls for $3500.
I took John’s late sight-unseen bids – and I am really glad I did. John purchased five bulls for an average of $3120 – with a range of $2750 to $3500. He would have only purchased two bulls with his original $3000 bid. Two of the bulls he purchased would have been no-sale bulls if I had not taken his sight-unseen bids.
John was concerned when the five grass-developed bulls arrive in California because they were not as big or as fat as the feedlot-developed bulls he was accustomed to. John closed he eyes and turned those five bulls out with 300 heifers (60 heifers per bull). Based on past experience, he expected only 120 to 150 of the heifers to get bred. John was happily surprised when over 80% (245 out of 300) were bred.
My favorite John Nino quote is, “The ability of your bulls to breed a large number of heifers in a short period of time has greatly improved my profitability.” Since that sale in the fall of 2007, John Nino has purchaser 151 PCC Solar Bulls. Most of those bulls were purchased for $3000 to $5000. I am so glad I did not blow John off because I was in such a hurry to get to the sale in 2007.
Instead of complaining about the markets or the weather or anything else, John says he feels blessed to be in the cow-calf business. I agree with John 120%! The cow-calf business is easy, it is fun and it is very profitable once you remove yourself from the status quo herd and the status quo, herd-mentality way of thinking.