Livestock Buyer
Cows, chickens, pigs, ostriches, and llamas are just a few examples of the animals that livestock purchasers buy and sell.
They make frequent trips between their home base, farms, and auctions to buy livestock, sell it to farmers for a profit, or buy remarkable cattle for the food-producing firms they work for.
A livestock buyer is what?
Those who work as cattle buyers frequently have the following duties:
- Purchases can be made by attending actions and other cattle sales occasions.
- Quickly assess cattle for quality and condition to ensure lucrative acquisitions
- Sell the livestock you have purchased to farmers and other purchasers.
- Make arrangements for animal transportation from auctions to holding sites, then to buyers.
- Contract and price negotiations with buyers
What a Day Is Like
Cows, pigs, chickens, ostriches, lambs, llamas, and other farm animals are purchased by livestock purchasers who then either transport the animals to their employers or sell them to farm owners for a profit.
Typically, livestock is sold during auctions. Livestock buyers attend these auctions, swiftly assess the quality and condition of the cattle, and acquire the most stunning specimens. Buyers of cattle may frequently travel to make purchases because livestock auctions can take place across the nation.
Some livestock purchasers purchase livestock and then sell it to farmers. Because owners don’t need to go to auctions on their own to buy new livestock, these livestock buyers make it easier for farmers to obtain new animals. Instead, they assess livestock and bargain a price with livestock purchasers.
In this position, livestock buyers must be skilled at assessing livestock, knowledgeable about symptoms of illness, and skilled negotiators who can persuade customers to pay prices that provide profitability.
Other livestock buyers might be employed by businesses that raise food, and they might strive to acquire new livestock for those businesses.
This position differs from others since the livestock buyer just delivers purchases to their employers; they are not required to identify markets for the livestock they have purchased. All other tasks, however, are the same for both roles.
Furthermore, livestock buyers must assist in transporting the animals they buy, thus they must exercise caution while dealing with irate animals.
Regular Work Hours
It is not a 9 to 5 job—livestock buyers generally put in long hours and travel frequently for work. They might spend the entire day at auctions, working from very early in the morning until late at night, and then drive to another site the next day for another auction.
As a result, they may have seasonal breaks where they can work fewer hours and take holidays because certain seasons—particularly the summer and winter—are slower for livestock purchasers.
Common Employers
Many people who buy cattle work for themselves and sell the animals to clientele who own farms. Others might work for firms that produce and distribute food or that conduct animal auctions.
How to Purchase Livestock
Having no formal college degree is not necessary to buy animals. Some of the best experience for aspiring livestock buyers comes from working with and analyzing livestock on farms or ranches.
The ability to recognize promising and high-quality livestock is the most crucial qualification for a livestock buyer, and this kind of knowledge may be better acquired through hands-on experience with animals than in a classroom.
But buying livestock isn’t the only thing that livestock purchasers do. Many of them also need to find buyers for the livestock they buy.
To do this, you’ll need marketing prowess, business savvy, the ability to attract and keep clients through networking, and negotiation abilities.
Due to this, those who are interested in becoming livestock buyers may benefit from taking a dual route to success by working with animals first-hand on a farm or ranch and acquiring a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline from a college or university.
Business, marketing, animal science, animal marketing, or agricultural business degrees are frequently chosen by aspirants for the position of livestock buyer.
Animal care and biology majors aid livestock buyers in their ability to appraise livestock, and business and marketing courses teach livestock buyers how to handle their businesses, contracts, networks, finances, and marketing.
In addition, the majority of food manufacturing enterprises demand that buyers of cattle hold a degree.
Pay information for livestock buyers
The information below will help you learn more about this profession. The editorial material and recommendations on this page are based on our research, while the income and growth information is based on newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Low Range of National Annual Salary: $41,690 Average Range: $62,280 High Range: $101,180
Nationwide minimum wage
Low range: $20/hour; Average range: $30/hour; High range: $49/hour
How do Livestock Buyer salaries compare to those at similar positions nationwide?
Livestock buyers may expect to earn an average yearly pay of $62,280, or $30 per hour, according to the most recent data on employment across the country.
When just starting or depending on the state you live in, they may make as little as $41,690, or $20 per hour.