Chapter 1967: Chapter 925: Cattle Market Auction in Australia (Part 2) It was around eight in the morning when they arrived, and the market was bustling with people, with the sounds of cattle lowing, either high-pitched or deep, audible everywhere they went—of course, there were sheep as well, but that was not something Yan Fei needed to consider. This cattle market is under the control of the Meat and Livestock Association; one could say all cattle markets are under the association’s control. Ranch owners cannot directly bring cattle for trading but must rely on agents to handle the buying and selling—this has its pros and cons. The advantage is that ranch owners do not have to contact customers themselves and worry about sales, but the downside is evident: everyone has to be exploited by the agents for another round. Some cattle have already been weighed before the transaction, and the staff here make a simple assessment of the cattle’s health, checking for obvious conditions such as skin diseases, which are readily apparent—after the transaction, the successfully traded cattle go through further testing to ensure health issues do not arise. Not only do cattle going into slaughterhouses require inspection, but those entering ranches for further feeding must similarly be inspected. In China, cattle are the happiest, but it’s different in some Western countries, where no one knows what those vile capitalists have done to the cattle, causing them to go mad—mad cow disease is something ranch owners dread. Although Australia has not yet had mad cow disease or similar major infectious diseases, preventive work must be done well. Otherwise, if a problem occurs, it would affect not only the farm and ranch owners but also have a significant impact on the entire industry and even the national economy. Previously, Yan Fei had already registered at the market’s management office, and now he just needed to wait for the auction to start. The benefit of registration is that he already knew by now how many cattle were registered for the auction, roughly what breeds they are, and their ages. To say it’s an auction is not quite accurate, as it can’t be like an art auction held in some hall. Here, it’s conducted directly in the market, divided by rails into small pens, each holding cattle of the same breed and age group. This setup facilitates buyers in selecting according to their needs. For example, Yan Fei immediately excluded cattle that had been fattened and were awaiting slaughter. Today’s auction features only over a thousand cattle for transaction; excluding those already fattened, less than nine hundred are left. Further excluding those too small, only about six hundred remain. Then Yan Fei further excluded a batch of cattle with breeds and colors that didn’t satisfy him, leaving less than four hundred for selection. He wanted to buy all four hundred at once, but according to the trading rules here, that was impossible. “This batch of cattle, keep a special eye on them,” Yan Fei said, pointing to a pen of cattle. These are Angus Cattle, all with pure black coats, suitable for fattening—choosing black cows is one of Yan Fei’s standards. In the dinosaur world, he has vast numbers of cattle that his ranch can no longer accommodate. In Yan Fei’s goals, the top standards of various countries are insignificant; Boss Yan aims to breed cattle surpassing the entire industry’s standards, making setting his standards the basic requirement. The cattle originally in the dinosaur ranch are already of high quality. After years of breeding, the current beef grading standards can no longer measure them. Even bringing out a few calves now, when they grow, their beef quality cannot be matched on this planet. If the target is to set high standards, then set them extremelý high. By then, producing a small amount of ultra-premium standard beef, Boss Yan can set whatever price he wants. The workers, or cowboys, are experienced; they follow Yan Fei to serve as his “eyes.” While Yan Fei may not need this, there’s no reason to dampen their enthusiasm over such minor matters, right? Once Yan Fei confirmed this pen of cattle as the target, a cowboy immediately recorded it and left two people here to guard—watching for competitors and ensuring that his people are timely when the auction starts. According to the situation reported by the workers to Yan Fei, these cattle auctions are swift. Usually, there are only a few or dozens of cattle in each pen—as Yan Fei sees now, not all cattle meeting his criteria are in the same pen. The market must consider the buying power of its patrons. If all cattle of the same breed and age were gathered, auctioning off several hundred at once, small ranch owners would weep. The auctioneers wait nearby, ready to start the transaction, with most cattle selling in just a few minutes. Some transactions finalize in mere seconds, so preparing beforehand is essential for all buyers and sellers. Yan Fei has authorized his workers so that they can directly represent Morning Glory Ranch within a certain price range, and once the auction succeeds, he merely needs to handle the payment. The workers are more familiar with the market rules than Yan Fei, so entrusting the matter to them is not something Yan Fei worries about. At nine o’clock when the auction commenced, the market became particularly lively. Some auctioneers even used long wooden sticks to tap the cattle in the pens, allowing potential buyers to see the ‘vigor’ of the cattle. With buyers placing bids, the auctioneers shouted prices energetically, and at the final decisive moment, they prolonged the shout to announce the price loudly. Since this is a conventional cattle market trade and generally continuous, the situation in art or land auctions, with several people fiercely driving up prices, does not occur here. People basically offer the price they’re comfortable with; it either works or it doesn’t. After all, cattle aren’t rare enough to justify spending extra dimes for a few cows. Unless it’s high-quality beef produce, attracting major food suppliers to compete. Yan Fei thus became a low-key spectator, enjoying watching others bid. The workers were diligent; they usually only raised cattle on the ranch, but with Yan Fei entrusting them with more tasks, he demonstrated trust in them clearly. It’s apparent that with just a few employees on the ranch now, those who perform well will likely be pivotal as Yan Fei continues his ranch acquisition plans, without plans to replace these recent employees under him. They are aware that Yan Fei will later have workers from his hometown arrive, but Yan Fei had already told them they’re the cowboys managing the ranch. Future local workers will work in the barns, engaged in fattening and improving the quality of beef. This creates two cattle rearing systems on the ranch: the cowboys in charge of grazing and expanding the herds, and Heizi’s team focused on breeding to yield more benefits from the cattle. These two systems do not compete but should cooperate to better the ranch. Soon, the auction ended, and Yan Fei received the auction results collected by the workers—about three hundred cattle were auctioned in total, a satisfactory outcome, and not at prices as steep as he feared. Most people recognized the unfamiliar ranch name and understood that it likely meant a change in ownership, providing an opportunity to continue cattle procurement. So competing at this time with them lacked wisdom. After a few workers demonstrated their determination, most other bidders wisely gave up. Of course, it also relates to the bidding identity, being workers; even those inclined to drive prices up knew about the basic threshold, once exceeded, the workers lose decision rights—should they bid themselves into a purchase, they’d risk being ridiculed as fools. Bought cattle cannot be taken away immediately; they need further inspection to prevent sick cattle from reaching the ranch and causing losses. This is the responsibility of the Meat and Livestock Association; if Yan Fei buys cattle and discovers illness upon returning, they’d be liable for full compensation. Yan Fei instructed a few cowboys to stay behind and watch over the future ranch cattle, awaiting transport to the ranch. Yan Fei left without waiting, driving back in his car. “` Thɪs chapter is updated by ɴovelfire.net