MISSOULA — The last auction cow was sold in Missoula on May 2.
The Five Valleys Livestock Auction Yard is reaching the end of an era, as the Montana Knife Company is set to purchase the land the week of May 20.
While the auction house will remain as a cattle transfer yard, Western Montana ranchers are sad to see a historical piece of Missoula change.
It’s estimated that Missoula first got a livestock yard in 1934, although the specific year is debated.
The original yards were located under the Reserve Street Bridge– the area where railroad fuel cars were loaded.
Until the opening of the yards, cattle were transported to Miles City and other auctions in Eastern Montana by train.
The original owners of the yards were looking for an alternative way to sell and buy cattle for local ranchers.
The yards eventually moved to their current location near the Wye and were sold twice before its recent final sale to Montana Knife Company.
Josh Smith started the Montana Knife Company in his garage in Frenchtown. Now, he’s looking to expand and build a new manufacturing building on the livestock land.
The expansion will break ground next fall and bring over 100 local jobs, according to Smith.
Smith’s plan is to maintain the current auction house infrastructure but change the system of cattle sales.
The building will now be a transfer yard for cattle. Ramsey Stockyard in Butte will arrange transportation to their auction house twice a week.
Smith says there is no minimum to the amount of cattle needed to qualify for the transportation, and he believes the transfer will be free for ranchers.
Smith says he understands the disappointment from livestock owners with the closure of the yards, but he believes the transfer yard solution is a good compromise.
“It was important to me, these ranchers are literally my neighbors,” he says.
Still, many western ranchers are sad to see a piece of local agricultural history leave Missoula.
The yards functioned as an auction house for 90 years, and many livestock owners grew up attending the auctions.
“Yeah, I started when I was 9 years old, and I'm 50 now, so a long time for me,” local cattle owner Shane Clause says. “41 years of history with the Five Valley’s Livestock Auction.”
Wally Congdon, a cattle owner in Clinton, was also about 9 years old when he first attended the Missoula Livestock Auction. He says losing the yards as they’ve been is a hit to Missoula’s heritage.
“It's just something that is there and always has been, I don't know anybody that can remember not having a yard in Missoula that was functional in some way,” he says. “It's really sad to lose all those parts of what Missoula was. That's really tough. That's a passing of our custom, our culture, part of our heritage, and certainly our history.”
Another concern among cattle owners is the effect the transportation to Butte will have on their animals.
Cattle can get bruised during the trip and can lose weight from lack of water or food for a long period of time. The animals will now undergo a drive from their original ranch, then an extra trip to Butte.
Some ranchers may chose to drive their own cattle to Butte or another Eastern Montana stockyard as a way to avoid conflicts with other cows.
The commute will be significantly longer, however, and will lower the return cost at sale.
“So my round trip to take cattle to Butte, which is the next closest market to me, will be a 320 mile round trip,” Clause says. “So just the fuel costs of that and the economics available increased my cost for just getting my cattle to market to decrease our costs substantially.”
One of the benefits of having a weekly local auction sale is the ability to sell cows that are injured or can no longer benefit a farm.
“You have an old bull that it's past its prime, and it's not able to be effective on your operation anymore,” Clause says. “Well, if I realized that today, and I needed a little extra operating cash, I could take that bull to the livestock auction and sell them on Thursday and get 3,4 or $5,000 of actual cash to use in my operation.”
If transportation is more difficult for ranchers looking to sell cattle, they may decide to wait until the fall. This would lead to a high supply at the end of the season and ultimately lower prices and decrease profit margins.
Missoula small businesses could also see negative effects. The Five Valleys Livestock Yards held an auction at least once a week during peak season, sometimes twice.
The auctions would bring new customers to local businesses who would normally not visit Missoula.
“I think the businesses will see less people who come to the sale because there is no sale now,” Congdon says. “They won’t buy as much stuff, they won't buy lunch they will buy supper, they won't be going shopping for whatever else on this special trip. Plus how many employees at the Butte Stockyards live in Missoula, pay rent or own a house or pay property tax? None.”
Five Valleys Livestock Auction did not say how many offers they received for the yards, but obtaining the necessary licenses to take over the business is difficult, according to Congdon.
It's a long process to get the license approved, and the buyer needs to prove substantial financial backing.
Lake and Sanders County helped the process of transferring the license the last time Five Valleys was sold. Congdon himself testified on behalf of the owners, telling the state that the auction yard was a crucial part of local agriculture.
Seeing the yards sell again, Congdon felt a bit defeated.
"I didn't just have a dog in the fight over the issue of it's my people or it's our people that were doing that, but I had a dog in the fight because I made the record to keep it with the legal reasons, and I just hate to lose it because it's like a personal thing for me," he says.
While the transfer yard will allow for continued cattle sale, it will be more difficult for people to purchase animals.
Those looking to buy a backyard beef cow or horse will have to travel to an Eastern Montana auction.
The stockyard in Butte only sells cattle, so the loss of the regular horse sale at Five Valleys makes it difficult for horse ranchers.
Congdon says horses have even more difficulty traveling long distances. Now, the closest equine sale yard is Billings.
Despite the loss, Western Montana ranchers are already looking towards the future.
“So people in agriculture are really resilient,” Clause says. “They're good at finding solutions to things, so this is just another hurdle to get over, and I believe in the farming and ranching industry. Folks in that industry are very resilient and very smart. They're gonna find a way to survive.”
The current owners of Five Valleys Livestock Yard would not answer further questions about the sale, but sent this statement to MTN:
“Five Valleys Livestock Auction is currently under contract for purchase. Our current sale schedule is established through mid-may based upon this proposed transaction and is available on our website. More details will follow upon completion of the transaction.”
Smith with Montana Knife Company confirmed they will be finalizing the purchase of the yards the week of May 20.
