Chapter 12 Buying cattle and horses to add belongings (1)
Just half an hour after finishing the meal, while Ju An was still eating in the rocking chair, Thomas brought a few pages over.
"An, I've made a list of the things we want to buy. Come and discuss it with you." Thomas put his cowboy hat on the coffee table, sat down, and handed the paper in his hand to Ju An.
Ju An took a look and found it written on it: How many more saddles should be purchased, ten more water reins, and ten sweat pads. Then how many more cattle and sheep should be purchased.
After watching for a few minutes, Ju An said to old Thomas: "I don't want to raise dairy cows. I mainly focus on beef cattle. The sheep are also mainly meat sheep. I want to buy quarters for horses. What do you think?"
Thomas thought for a while and said: "Well, the beef cattle here mainly include Angus cattle, Brahman cattle and vegetable cattle." Then he explained the advantages and disadvantages of various cattle. It is recommended to buy more cows with calves or pregnant mothers.
Bullshit, the economic benefits will be generated faster.
Ju An thought for a while, "Let's just choose Angus cows. Just choose as many cows with calves as you said."
"As for horses, you don't need to be so particular about using them for your own use on the ranch. Pinto horses and wild horses are also good. The price of a quarter is several hundred dollars higher. The current market price of each horse is about four thousand dollars."
"Wait a minute, you said it's more than four thousand dollars?" Ju An looked at Thomas in disbelief.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Thomas looked at Ju An strangely.
"I remember those Kuats imported from China cost more than 20,000 to 30,000 US dollars," Ju An returned.
Thomas smiled and said: "Those Quarters are all proven by the pedigree of the descendants of famous horses. They record the awards they have won, so they can be sold for so much money. The Quarters used in ranches cannot be sold for so much money. The award-winning Quarters are very expensive."
Expensive. A prize-winning horse in California sold for US$600,000 the year before last. Those famous horses produce dozens of offspring every year. The proportion of real prize-winners is too small. Moreover, Chinese horse farms have recently favored three-year-old ponies.
Spending more than 30,000 US dollars to buy a pony that has basically not been trained at all is too risky."
Ju An thought depressedly that he had been taken advantage of again in China: "Well, are we going to go to a special horse farm to buy it?".
Thomas nodded: "The division of labor in animal husbandry here is very fine. There are horse breeders, cattle breeders, and sheep pastures. The cattle have to be selected at the market, but there is no need for sheep. There are several nearby pastures.
We bought several hundred sheep. I made a phone call in the evening and asked if any nearby ranches had any sheep for sale. For a thousand cows, we might have to find a cattle broker. For a dozen horses, we could just go to the horse farm and buy them ourselves."
"That's it." Ju An nodded.
The two discussed for a while, and then Thomas old picked up his hat and left.
Ju An also went upstairs to watch TV and saw the old man Zhou Gong.
The next day, Ju An slept until dawn. When he finished washing and went out, he found that Thomas, Wynn and Nancy had already gotten up, and several people were sorting out the warehouse. Hutou and the other three were following behind, shaking their heads and tails.
"Morning" Ju An greeted.
"It's getting late. We arrived at around six o'clock today. When the cattle and sheep arrive, we have to get up and work at around five o'clock every day," Thomas said with a smile.
I followed the four people to clean up the warehouse and had breakfast.
Thomas arranged for Wynn and Nancy to drive a four-wheeler today to check whether the fence was damaged and repair it if necessary. At noon, a nearby ranch would come to deliver sheep and let them take over. Ju An followed Thomas.
We went to the cattle market together, and in the next few days we went to pick horses from several horse farms that Thomas had made appointments with last night.
Ju An and Thomas drove the big trailer and went out.
Listening to country songs that have never changed for thousands of years, and listening to old Thomas introducing some ranching tips, it was a relaxing and enjoyable journey.
When we arrived at the small county town of Lewistown, we were led by Old Thomas to a harness shop.
As soon as he entered the door, Ju An was stunned. Good guy, as far as he could see, there were rows of saddles. They were basically Western cowboy saddles. There were water reins hanging on the wall, and there were all kinds of cowboy hats.
, there are at least a hundred pairs of riding boots neatly placed in a row of cabinets against the wall. Some of these riding boots have patterns carved on them, and the colors of the uppers are also colorful.
The shop owner was an old man with a white beard that reached down to his chest. He hugged Thomas warmly and then shook hands with Ju An.
Thomas then began to make a large purchase, reining in the horses one by one. Thomas looked at each saddle very carefully. While selecting the saddle, he explained to Ju An the flaws in this pair and the advantages of this pair. He also explained to Ju An
After asking about what a machine-made saddle is and what a handmade saddle is, Ju An chose a handmade saddle for himself made by the shop owner at Thomas’s suggestion. The brown saddle had a shiny silver buckle and the skirts on both sides were engraved with a pattern.
It was a fine horse, and Ju An liked it very much. For the remaining four spare saddles, he chose much cheaper machine-made saddles. The front of each saddle was a thick pile head, which was very different from the western domestic saddles that Ju An had seen. Thomas told
Ju'an, there are many types of Western saddles. This kind of saddle with a thick stigma is a ranch saddle, with a lasso tied to it, and it must be strong. Thomas selects every item very carefully, and Ju An can't help but admire the dedication of this old cowboy.
After selecting these, he chose two pairs of leather chaps and two pairs of riding boots for Ju An, one pair high and one pair half-high. Ju An knew that when working in a ranch, grass was usually knee-high, and he didn’t know there would be any inside.
Why wear leather holsters and riding boots to prevent bites?
I bought a lot of things, and the old shop owner was very happy. He also gave Ju An two cowboy hats and two belt buckles. The big oval buckles were very eye-catching, and each one was about the size of a palm, which was very cool.
With the help of the boss, I went back and forth several times to put everything in the back seat. Then I left Lewistown and drove to the small town of Moore, which is not far away. This time the cattle market is in Moore Town. I listened to Thomas’ introduction.
, Ju An felt that it was a bit like going to a fair in the countryside when he was a child. Today there is a market in this town, and next month there is a market. Every time it was my grandfather's turn, the town would be crowded with people, and the people making candy, and the rice candy sellers would be like celebrating a festival.
After about half an hour's drive, the car arrived at the trading market in Moore Town. The market is on the edge of the town. When we first approached the town, we found many trailers and even many large trucks, just like in a movie.
Like Optimus Prime in the movie, he walked to a large open space full of parked cars, found an empty space, Thomas stopped the car and said.
Ju An jumped out of the car and looked around. He said that the market was a large open space with many cars driving cattle down. The open space was surrounded by fences into many small areas. There were cows neighing and horses neighing everywhere, and there were many cowboys.
Chatting in groups.
Ju An followed Thomas to a large shed with two doors, only to find that the two sides of the shed looked a bit like the stands of a stadium, with many people on it.
There was a group of cows in the middle. A man held a microphone and introduced how much the cows weighed, what breed they were, how old they were, etc.
Thomas took Ju An to the stands on one side and found two empty seats to sit down.
Only then did I discover that there was a geodetic scale in the middle, and there was a display screen on both sides of the stands, which showed the weight of the cattle.
After seeing several batches of cows, I saw two more black cows coming towards a gate. The cows looked very strong, and their black fur was as beautiful as a joke.
As soon as he rushed in, Ju An found that the scale showed 1765, these numbers. Ju An understood that the two cows weighed 1760 pounds. Then he listened to the host's introduction that these were two Angus breeding cows, and then quoted the price.
Shi Ju'an noticed that Old Thomas raised his hand, and the host looked around. If no one raised the price, he announced the deal.
Just after I bought these two cows, an old cowboy came over and sat down next to Thomas and said, "Thomas, I haven't seen you in the cattle market for a long time. What are you busy with now?"
Thomas smiled and shook hands with him and then introduced: "This is my boss, Ann. I'm here to pick some cattle today. Why, old Mike, I haven't seen you for more than a year, but you are still so energetic. Do you have any recommendations?"
Mike shook hands with Ju An: "The pasture has increased by a few cents in the past two days. Not many people are selling cattle, and there is a drought in Texas. Life will not be easy for many ranches this year. This grass
Prices have increased, but beef and mutton have basically remained unchanged. These bastards on Wall Street.”
"My boss is going to buy some Angus cattle. I think it's not enough to buy some here. I need your help," Thomas said.
"Oh, old Thomas, thank you so much, thank you also Mr. An" Mike's face immediately burst into smiles.
Thomas and Mike talked about the breed of cow, the size of the cow, the calf, and the requirements in detail. Mike left for a while, and then after a while, Mike came back and chatted with Thomas.
Next, Thomas picked out a few more breeding cows and several groups of cows with calves. It took more than three hours. Thomas and Ju An bought more than 300 cows and a group of cows with calves.
The number of thousands is quite different.
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