When the gavel dropped for the final time at the Video Royale sale in Winnemucca, Nev., 171,253 head of calves, yearlings and bred stock totaling 1,449 lots sold through the video auction. The four-day event hosted by Superior Livestock Auction held July 29 through Aug. 1 included cattle consigned from 33 states.
Strong buyer participation from several bidders throughout the auction resulted in 243 successful buyers, according to the market report. Cattle were sold on contract to deliver immediately through April 2025.
Regions 3, 4, 5 and 6 Feeder Steers were fully steady with the last test; except for Feeder Steers over 900 lb. which were $4 to $7 lower based on delivery. Feeder Heifers from the same regions were also fully steady witnessing some resistance on immediate deliveries.
Regions 3, 4, 5 and 6 Weaned Calves were met with a somewhat uneven market. Lighter weight calves were steady, but heavier calves over 700 lb. were $6 to $10 higher.
Regions 1 and 2 Feeder Steers and Heifers were mainly steady with some weakness on immediate deliveries. Regions 1 and 2 Idaho calves were met with an aggressive buyer base resulting in a full steady market. Regions 1 and 2 Charolais set the pace with a strong demand from buyers, seeing prices $10 to $30 higher than last year.
The Nevada Angus Section kept pace with previous levels set with a strong demand from western buyers in anticipation of a profitable grazing season. Bred Stock was well received; however, only lightly tested. Despite outside pressure both the Western Angus and Red Angus Sections were well received and remained steady.
Million Head Milestone
Superior Livestock Auction’s Video Royale has been bringing cattle producers and buyers together for more than three decades. Representative Jim Davis started the sale 33 years ago to help western ranchers market their cattle through a video auction. In 2024, Davis hit a milestone of marketing one million head of cattle since joining Superior in 1988. He says he ships 40% to 50% of the cattle to the Midwest and the western cattle perform well there.
“Because we’re in a high desert, the cattle health is usually really good,” he says. “You still may have some trouble, but we get along real good with the health on the other end because they go into the feedlot healthy. That’s a big deal. Vaccination programs and genetics have improved a lot here in the West since we started the sale.”
Davis says the sale has grown through the years, offering a trade show, entertainment, a buyer barbecue and has become an annual social event. He admits the crowd was down and contributes that to the wildfires ranchers are dealing with in the West.
“I had several customers who sold their cattle and had to get back home right away, or some who called and said they just couldn’t leave the ranch this year,” Davis says.
Wildfire Relief
During the video sale, several lots were sold to benefit Oregon ranchers battling those wildfires. More than 1.2 million acres have burned, the largest area being in the Cow Valley and Durkee Fires in the eastern part of Oregon.
Logan Ipsen, Western Livestock Journal, and Jeff Peck, a cattle buyer from Idaho, helped organize the auction; 100% of the proceeds went to the Fire Relief Fund.
“I’ve got good friends that are in the middle of it, and I just started thinking about what we could do to help and started making phone calls,” Peck said on “Superior Sunrise” the day of the auction. “Our industry is so resilient. They have just plastered us with help. I know several of these ranchers got free loads of hay sitting in their driveway that just showed up; they don’t even know where it came from.”
Peck adds even with the money, these ranchers will still be behind, but any bit can help. He had already made calls to schedule cows into the local processing plant.
“They’re already splitting these pairs and going to process the older cows just to start the process to moving on to next year,” he says. “They’re going to have a lot less cattle on that range. We’ve got to do something to help them get through the next three to five years, or next year, whatever it may be.”
Shaw Cattle Co., Caldwell, Idaho, was one of several purebred operations to donate to the auction. Sam Shaw says they donated because it’s the right thing to do.
“It’s your friends getting burned up trying to deal with these devastating fires,” he says. “Many of these ranchers are multi-generational family friends. The real story here is these ranchers who are the ones affected by the fires turning around, buying the sale credit and supporting each other. It’s ranchers helping ranchers.”
The benefit auction was able to raise more than $88,000, and donors can continue to contribute through the Fire Relief Fund.
Auctioneer Trent Stewart from Madras, Ore., says it was unfortunate many producers couldn’t attend and share the camaraderie the sale offers because they were dutifully back home trying to save their ranches. Stuart also reps for Superior and says the timing of the sale was good considering the Dow and everything in the markets now.
Stewart says across the board, reputation sets, feeder cattle, program cattle and cattle with great genetic background sold strong.
“The six-weight calves sold really well as stockers with most of them going to repeat buyers who are familiar with the cattle as they have purchased from those same programs in previous years,” he says.
