“If we ever get a chance at your business once, we’ll have you forever.” A strong statement from a confident businessman, Lane Pruitt wants to earn his customer’s business.
Pruitt owns and operates Pruitt’s Midstate Stockyards, LLC along scenic US Highway 65 in Damascus, Ark. Ozarks Farm & Neighbor sat down recently with Pruitt to visit his operation and talk about what drives him to excel at the livestock market.
“We’re on a five-lane highway, 20 minutes from (Interstate) 40, a central location, but not really in town. The location was really good,” Pruitt said.
The auction house is a new addition to the bustling little town of Damascus in Van Buren County, Ark. Lane said the location worked well for his current customer base that had used his services in a previous barn in Clinton.
“I ran the barn in Clinton for five years,” Lane explained. “We went from 100 head a week to 500 head a week. We moved down here to be closer to our customer base.”
The new facility in Damascus was constructed from the shell of the old Dairy Cooperative building and land located in the town.
“My family had a dairy,” Lane recalled. “Dad was down here helping sell supplies when the place went up for sale. He called and said it was coming up for sale. I had it pictured in my mind just the way it is now.”
He submitted his sealed bid in hopes to catch the facility.
“I said there is no way I’d get it,” Lane said. “On Dec. 10, they called and said we just signed your bid. So, I called my banker and on March 28 we had our first sale.”
Lane remodeled the inside of the facility to include a kitchen and seating for the hungry customers attending the sale. The truck wash bay in the facility was developed into the auction seating area and a sale ring was created to bring the auction barn together. The biggest part of the development was the back side of the barn and the massive pen structure that had to be created from scratch.
“We had a dry December to get the pad done. I had five welders going from February to the end of March for 17 hours a day, 6 days a week. We would’ve worked Sunday if I could have gotten them to,” Lane said of the project. The sparks were still flying the day OFN talked with Lane about his operation. “We’ve been putting in gates and making corrections as we go, like we want. Putting gates where we need them,” he said.
With 60 pens in the back, Lane expects big things for the barn, “We hope to run 800 to 1,000 head when things are running good.”
From the looks of the layout, the facility is prepared to do just that.
Pruitt hopes customer service is the big seller for cattlemen selling through his barn.
“We’ll get what your cattle are worth, or more,” he said. “We’re straight up honest and fair. We get cattle from a 150-mile radius, some from near the Mississippi River.”
Hauling cattle being sold or arranging for cattle to be delivered are all part of the business plan for Lane. Sometimes the plan includes Pruitt as a one-man show.
“We haul cattle Saturday and Sunday, then I sort them,” Lane said. “Then, when I have to, I get inside and auctioneer. I do it all. Even go in the back and weld when something breaks.”
