It’s free and easy to include your feeder cattle in the HerfNet database. All you need to do is submit important information relative to the quantity, quality and location of your feeder calves or yearlings and how you prefer to sell those cattle. We’ll compile that information, fax a weekly listing of available cattle to our VIP feedyards and order buyers, then transfer your seller information to the on-line list of available feeder cattle.

Please remember that HerfNet is not an online auction. And, while there’s no commitment or commission on your part, neither is there any guarantee that HerfNet buyers will contact you or bid on your cattle.

Since you’re already at our website, you might find our electronic Cattle Tracker form the most convenient way of telling us about your available feeder cattle. If you or ranchers you know would prefer to send in your information by mail or fax, you can do so by downloading a hard-copy of our Cattle Tracker form, complete it and send it to the following address:

On-line: Cattle Tracker Form for Feeder Listings 
Click on the “Add New Listing“ button at the top of the list of available cattle.

Download: Cattle Tracker Form for Feeder Listings 

HerfNet
The American Hereford Association
P.O. Box 014059
Kansas City, MO 64101-0059
Fax: 816-842-6931

Or feel free to call us at 1-866-HER-FNET (1-866-437-3638). We’d be happy to take all of your information right over the phone.

The first section of the form deals with who owns the cattle and who will serve as the representative when negotiating their sale. If you are the actual owner of the cattle and prefer to receive all buyer inquiries, be sure to include your contact information in both the owner and representative entry blanks. Alternatively, if you have someone you use to negotiate the price and weigh up conditions for your cattle, list their name, phone number and other contact information in the spaces provided for the representative information.

Only the ranch name, city and state of the owner will appear on our internet listing and feeder-fax list. Therefore if you want to serve as the contact, you must include at least your name and phone number as the representative.

Breed Description: Describe the approximate make-up of the collective group of cattle you are intending to sell. If a percentage of the cattle are crossbreds of Hereford and an English, Exotic, Brahman or other breed type, indicate what percentage of the calves in your selling group are of that cross and list the breed or breeds with which they are crossed. For example, a group of calves sired by a Hereford bull used over Braford cows would be represented, as 100% Hereford x Brahman and the Brahman breed would be Braford.

Color Description: Many buyers are sensitive to the hide color of the calves they want to purchase. Indicate what percentage of the collective lot has traditional Hereford markings and what percentage could be described as black baldy (black with a white face), red baldy (red with a white face) or other.

# Head:  25 head minimum.  Remember, it is OK to list steers and heifers together as a mixed lot or to share a listing with a neighbor with similar type cattle to sell.

Sex: Categorize each listing by how you intend to sell your cattle. If you have both steers and heifers available and intend to sort and sell them separate, complete two Cattle Tracker forms (1 for the steers and 1 for the heifers). If you do not intend to separately sell the steers and heifers, enter "Mixed" as the sex designation. Any listings that include bullocks or spayed heifers should be labeled as such.

Weight Description: Characterize whether or not the listing includes cattle with even or uneven weights.

Weaned: Check yes if calves will be fully weaned at least 2 weeks prior to delivery date.

Preconditioned: Check yes if calves will be weaned and bunk broke by the delivery date.

Comments: Provide any and all information relating to the quality, condition or background of your cattle that you feel will be helpful to the buyer. This space is limited to 255 characters so be brief.

Example: Calves weaned and backgrounded on chopped alfalfa, Vaccinated with 7-way modified live

Marketing Options: Indicate your preferred method of selling your cattle. Special feeder calf sales are defined as auctions designated specifically for Hereford influenced cattle. If you are selling directly from your ranch and later choose to take your cattle to a local auction market you may call 1-866-HER-FNET and have your marketing preference changed to "auction market."

Location: If you intend to sell ranch direct, simply list the location as "Ranch," otherwise list the name of the auction market you will be using.

Auction Date: Complete only if selling by video auction, online auction, special feeder calf sale or auction market.

Earliest Delivery Date: All cattle listed with HerfNet are assumed to be for immediate sale even though they may not be actually shipped until a later date. In this space indicate the earliest date you are willing to weigh and ship your cattle.

Latest Delivery Date: This is the last date your cattle will be listed as available on HerfNet.

Weight Up Conditions: Describe the specific location and process you will undergo to weigh calves to be sold from the ranch. Buyers will be looking for how and when (a.m./p.m.) the cattle will be weighed, whether they will be weighed on the truck or on the ground and how far they will travel on hoof or by truck before they are weighed. Buyers prefer morning weigh ups because of reduced shrink loss in the cattle. Also include any shrink you would like applied to your cattle. Typically buyers insist on some sort of shrink (% reduction in the load weight) to compensate for the lost weight your calves will experience in transit to the buyer’s location.

Price/Slide Conditions: It is not necessary that you commit to an asking price for your cattle. However if you choose to do so, you may also want to list a "slide" which is an adjustment to the negotiated selling price based on the variation between the estimated weight and the actual weight of the cattle.

For example, if a buyer and seller negotiate a price of $85/cwt for a load of 700 weight steers, the buyer will most likely want a discounted price if the steers end up weighing more than 700 pounds. The seller, conversely, will most likely want to be paid more per pound if the steers have an average weight less than 700 pounds since, generally speaking, the lower the weight, the higher the price for feeder cattle. As such, the buyer and seller might call for a 4 cent "slide up" to discount the cattle if they are heavier than 700 pounds and a 4 cent "slide down" to give the steers a higher price if they weigh, on average, less than 700 pounds.

Using this example, let’s assume that when the steers were weighed, the average weight was 720 pounds. Because there was a 4-cent slide up, the original selling price of $85/cwt would be adjusted by 4 cents for every pound above the negotiated base of 700 pounds. Since the steers were 20 pounds heavy, the $85/cwt selling price is decreased by $0.80/cwt (4 cents ´ 20 pounds = 80 cents) for a final price of $84.20/cwt.

Keep in mind that a slide up is a buyer protection and a slide down is a seller protection. Therefore if you only specify a slide down on your HerfNet listing, you may leave a negative impression with the buyer. Remember, HerfNet is not an auction. You can always negotiate terms of the sale later when the buyer has contacted you or your representative.