Sale Barn Designs

I know there's been a lot of talk about show barn plans and designs, but I'm going to change this up a bit. We're looking at possibly building a sale facility at our place. I'd like the building to be used for more than just the sale though so we can use it year round. Does anyone have a similar facility at their place, or experience with facilities like these? I'd love to see any pictures, drawings, plans, or hear any ideas or recomendations you might have.

Thanks!

The one I liked was the BOHI facility here in Kansas.  They wasted a lot of money by not making it dual purpose but with some simple overhead doors would fix that.  They also built a seperate "show" barn that easily could have been incorporated into the sale facility. 

I have no idea on the dimensions.

The front 1/3 has a couple of offices and was where they fed the sale crowd and socialization occurred.  This could double as a small shop, garage but it didn't have overhead doors to the outside just some small walk-in doors.

They did have an overhead door going to the auction area.  In here they has a nice balcony area for seating and telephone bid taking area.  Of course bleachers and ring below.  About 1/4 of the barn was this area.
That leaves about 1/2 (5/12ths if your keeping track) for the back area for sale cattle prep...this could have doubled for the show area. 

Going the length of the auction center and sale prep part of the barn on both sides are pens in the "lean-to"sides that were totally inside.

Here is where you could have runs going off in each direction from those lean-to pens.  They didn't but they could have.  The ErLanDel facility in Missouri had a nice set-up ....in-door pens that lead to covered pens in the lean-to that lead to outdoor runs...damn nice for wintering animals with plenty of options.


Hope this helps

green valley cattle in nebraska has a brand new barn. they also have a kitchen... mens and womens rest rooms with showers.. and a big open area for socializing... it looks like they are really going to incorporate a big video board also...  which could really make it a multi purpose area.. would be great for a dance,  cattle shows... heck I think you could have church there if you wanted... they have a picture on their web site ... it is new enough I am sure you could get some prints from the builder  I  thought it was really well done

Couldn't find any pics on their site. My plan is to go approx 40x60 and put a wall in the middle dividing it in half. Half the building would be used for feed storage, and also storage for the skid steer and the Ranger. Come sale day it can be cleaned up and used for a meal or settlement. Put mens and women's rest rooms in the middle, then the other 30x40 portion can be used for the sale ring and maybe a small bar. Use the moveable bleachers that can be folded up and set against the wall and you have another half building that can be used for vehicle or machinery storage for 11 months out of the year. Not sure if 40x60 is going to be big enough though....

sorry.. picture must have been in this years catalog... I would really steer away from dirty or dusty materials and chores if you plan to have social gatherings and food there... because of mice would really hesitate to store food or feed there... really wish you could see a few facilities before you complete your plans... I think it would be worth a drive to see them... you could probably make it from the site in kansas to the site in nebraska in a days drive
GVC's facility is open with the kitchen and bathrooms along the wall on one side

Went to a sale a few years ago at the Cow Palace, that Trausch Farms has in Iowa. It was perfect in my eyes. You should check it out.

I've got a pretty good idea as far as the layout and the technology I want to move into the barn. What are some of the cool features you have seen in different sale barns? Things like kitchens, restrooms, bars, etc? Also, what do you see for seating in a lot of on-farm barns? Are they using folding chairs, or bleachers? Are the bleachers aluminum or wood? All kind of different things to consider!

I think this really depends on how much money that you want and can afford to spend.  The nicest on farm sale facilities that I have been at would probably cost upwards of a million dollars or more to build today which obviously is not feasible for most people.  I have also been to very success sales where very little was spent on the facilities.

I think that maybe the most important thing that is often overlooked is the actual penning of the cattle.  Up here it seems that most people are preferring to see the cattle penned outside in larger pens where a person can move them around in a more natural setting.  The two most common complaints that I am hearing about this are there being two many animals in a pen and that the entire pen is covered in deep bedding so that a person can not get a good look at feet.  One complaint that I really have not heard is that it is too cold or miserable out to look at the cattle even in some quite cold and blustery weather when there was a well light barn with enough small pens for all the cattle between them and the sale ring.

The other thing that I think is most appreciated by a lot of people attending a sale is adequate washroom facilities and hopefully some attempt to keep them stock and clean.

I personally do not think that a 30 X 40 area is big enough to  fit in a sale ring and bleachers  If I was going to undertake this project myself I would give serious consideration to the idea of a video sale without running the cattle through an actual ring but having them right by where the sale was.  This allows you to have a smaller building and not worry about how to get the cattle in and out.  It also speeds up the sale and allows a better flow as there are not holds getting animals in or out of the ring and you do not have quiet cattle blowing up in the ring.  I was sceptical about these sales initially but they seem to go over quite well.

Klintdog if you happen to come up to Davidson's sale in March and came a day early there is a Simmental sale about 70 miles east of Estevan that has about as nice of a relatively simple set up that is easily converted for other uses as I have seen (the actual sale is the same day as Davidson's).  The day after Davidson's is a sale about 10 miles out of Estevan that has a very basic no frills facility but they still have a very good sale.

That's actually my plan for the facility. We have all the pens right next to the site location, so the bulls will be penned outside in their normal feeding groups. This way nothing gets moved around, the animals are content and settled and not fighting or horsing around. We would not be installing a 'sale ring', but would rather have a large overhead screen and full video for each lot. I've been in too many buildings that have a ring installed and isn't usable otherwise. This way you can clean up the chairs and the bleachers and all you'd have taking up space in the building is the auction block.

Not sure if I'm going to make it up for Davidsons this year. I've been up the past couple years but we're expecting a baby around that time so I'm not too crazy about leaving home. Obviously the most important thing in a facility is that you can hold a sale in it. A nice facility won't make anyone bid any more money. It has to be functional first and foremost!

Went to a large facility that had large flat screen TV's on the wall. They ran video of the cattle. Prior to the sale you could run other things. Sell some advertising time at your sale help pay for it. Just a thought.

Klintdog, I hope you do not mind me making a few more comments on your plans.  It sounds like you have a good handle on what you want to do and I think that a 40 X 60 building would be large enough.  However, I would be very hesitant to initially place a permanent wall across the middle especially with the restrooms placed here.  My concern would be that you would find that one or both sides are too small will little ability to adjust your setup and to move the wall would be a large expense especially with plumbing.  Also if you decided both sides were too small it would mean redoing 40 foot walls to expand rather than just one on an open space.  The facility I mentioned east of Estevan actually has a tarp type wall dividing it with openings in it to accommodate walk through doors and the sale block and ring set up which is built to be slid in and out. 

As far as using your normal pens the one problem I have seen arise from this is depending on when the sale is and the set up is those pens being fairly mucky after wintering the cattle.  Also sometimes there can be too many in the pens for easy sale viewing.

I hope I am making sense in what I am trying to say and it is not meant to criticize your plan.

I remembered seeing this a while back.....

http://www.tristateneighbor.com/articles/2008/04/11/tri_state_news/livestock_news/live07.txt