How long does your fair take to send you the check from the sale??

[Rock*River]

Hello all -

Just curious, how long does it take for you to receive the check from your County Fair sale?  Our sale was in mid July and we will be lucky to have our checks by the end of September.  This seems like an awefully long time but it would be helpful to hear how long it takes at some other fairs.

A few families are starting to get pretty upset because last years sale proceeds usually help fund the next years projects...

Thanks for your input.

 

[Earthmover]

I've been on the local fair board for over 10 yrs. and also on the sale commitee. Since they have a limited amount of start up money and expenses need paid they generally don't distribute any money till they have recieved all buyers payments. So don't attack them, helpthem find out who owes yet and call them. All exhibitors get paid at the same time so you can see the problem.

 

[Rock*River]

I don't think anyone is looking to attack them, we simply want to make the process better.  We sold calves in Denver last year and the check almost beat us home. 

How long is reasonable?

 

[SlickTxMaine]

I volunteer in the office for our annual show.  No checks go out until ALL the buyers have paid in.  That usually takes 3-4  months.  Checks are issued as soon as the last buyer pays.  It's frustrating b/c there is usually one or two slow payers that hold up the entire process. 

 

[Rock*River]

That's insane.  If you have two or three buyers that haven't paid, why would you hold everyone's checks?  If the buyer that purchased my kids steer hasn't paid, then delay our check not everyone elses.  And let me chase our buyer for their check if we need to.

 

[brenn]

My fair is the 3rd week of June and we get ours around the 2nd week of July.

 

[forbes family farms]

I usually get my check a month or so after the sale, i show in the last week of July.

 

[BadgerFan]

when I was showing we got our checks two weeks after the fair at the end of the buyers banquet and awards presentation (ADG, carcass champs, etc).  All buyers were required to pay in full before leaving the auction.  I don't know that we ever had a problem, maybe, but I didn't know of any.

 

[chambero]

Our county fair holds checks till everyone has paid.  Usually takes a good 90 days to get checks out.  It was that way in my old county also.

 

[lightnin4]

Our junior livestock association has a buyers dinner & awards banquet.  The exhibitor is required to buy a ticket to the dinner for their buyer and the buyer brings the check to the dinner.  The buyers sit with the kid whose calf (or lamb or hog) they bought and their family during the dinner and awards banquet.  This year the show & sale was last Thursday and the banquet is this Tuesday night.  The exhibitors also host a meet and greet with potential buyers the week before the fair. 

 

[Silver]

depends on how agressive your market animal sale commitee is. some years its 2 weeks, others its 4 months.

 

[LivingtheDream]

We sale on a Saturday evening and meet the next Saturday to turn in Record Books and get our checks... So it only takes a week to get ours.

 

[vc]

Our fair has averaged 5 weeks for as long as I can remember. No animal can leave the fair grounds until all auction payments have been made, so they aren't waiting for payments. They may wait until all checks have cleared and credit card payments go through. I also believe they may wait for all the drug test results to come back prior to payout. If an animal fails and the check has been mailed it would be difficult to recoup the money. (All division champions are tested and the grands and reserves are retested. Champion drive is usually a day or to after all the market classes, this is why the extra test)

 

[SWMO]

Our county does not issue checks until all buyers pay.  That usually takes about 90 days.  The market sale committee is completely voluntary in our county so don't go shooting the committee until you understand all that is involved in issueing sale tickets and collecting the money.  I understand that the kids want their "donations" as quickly as possible but they need to understand that if the buyer never pays then they will not be paid either.

I am continuely reminding the kids in our county that when they complain about their market sale check(we sell premium only) that it is in fact a donation from that buyer because good and services never change hands.  The buyers don't have to come and participate and when they do it is a very generous gesture on their part.  Be glad that your kids are getting anything.

 

[husker1]

When I dispersed the checks for our sale, I always shot for having them in the mail in 30 days....

 

[dcbehle]

We wait until we have enough money to cover the checks. This generally results in mailing out the checks 30 to 60 days after the fair. With 200 to 300 animals being sold, it takes time to get the buyers to pay up. While there are always a few that we have to wait for, the bulk are very good about paying in a timely fashion. Bottom line is we don't have to wait for all the buyers to pay up prior to mailing the checks.

The biggest problem we have is providing support for our buyers. We've attempted a few things to encourage buyers to come back and buy each year. Sometimes they have had a bad experience from getting an animal processed if they so choose, sometimes its the lack of a simple thank you from the kid. We've done some training for a select group of kids to meet with buyers prior to the sale and we offer breakfast for the buyers on sale day. If you have something unique that works well, I'd be glad to hear them.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

At our county fair checks, the buyers pay the kids directly. Most are paid within a few days but I'm sure some wait longer. RW

 

[AAOK]

In the pre-computer age, our Committee would meet about a week after the Show to get all the records straight and begin collections.  About a month later, the checks went to the Ag teachers/4-H leaders.  The kids received their checks when they handed the leader their stamped Thank You notes.

Now, everything is computerized right at the sale, and all the information is totaled within an hour of the final bid.  In the past 10 years, it now takes forever to get some to pay!  Therefore, the kids get their checks in about 4 months.

 

[upthecreek]

At our fair the cheques were madeout 2 days after the sale and as soon as the buyers paid and the kids record books are in they can have the money.  Most steers are paid for at the sale but we do need to wait for a few to pay before we can release the funds to the kids.

 

[Bradenh]

we have to write out thank you letters.. then deliver a sale picture to the buyer.. and then wait for the ever so slow fair board to ge it all straight, and if we meet all the requirments. then we only have to wait 120 days