Buffalo Livestock Market LLC
Owners: Leon and Tara Caselman (pictured), Lyle and Rita Caselman, and Howard Miller
Location: Buffalo, Mo.
History: “We bought this auction barn and held our first sale February 12, 1999,” Leon Caselman explained recently while seated in his firm’s attractively paneled office of knotty pine. “This barn has actually been here since the early 1970s and gone through several owners.
What We Wish People Knew About this Business: Leon’s wife, Tara laughed good-naturedly. “That we don’t get to pack up and go home as soon as the last sale is complete. And that all the money we get isn’t ours to keep after a sale. We are like everyone else. Most of it is owed to someone else.”
Leon nodded, “And that this is not a one-day-a-week-business. People think of it that way but we are here, making multiple trips during the week as stock is unloaded. On Friday nights, we are making sure the buyers all get a call so that they will know what’s going to be here on Saturday and they can get their orders together.”
The Future: Leon estimated that the Buffalo Livestock Market sells 20-30,000 goats and sheep annually in addition to 75,000 cattle last year. “We’re seeing fewer cattle sold each year. We see a lot of long time farmers retiring or passing and the next generation is not interested in continuing the family farm. There are also too many row crops taking over cattle fields. I think we will continue to see a lot of changes in the coming years but people don’t need to be scared because I doubt they will be as bad as people think. I don’t see the low cattle prices coming back. There will continue to be more demand than supply and that will keep prices up. It is not a bad time to get into the cattle business right now.
“And as for us? We will continue to sell anything with four legs and hair.”
