Hello All:

Sale Videos: The sale videos are uploaded onto the DVAuction website with online catalog coming soon. The catalog and videos should soon be available on the icecattle.com website.

What is an open replacement heifer worth? My good friend Jim Thiele just sent me a picture from Verdigre NE livestock. Thirty-five, 752 lb. F1 replacement heifers brought $3700 each. Open…heifers…mind blown.

ICE Sale History: On Saturday, March 14 we will (Lord willing) be holding our 10^th annual bull and bred heifer sale. In the previous 9 sales we have sold 1,162 animals and had a total of 173 buyers and over 200 bidders. That doesn’t seem like a lot…but I won’t let comparison steal my joy! What that does mean is that a high percentage of customers who bid on our cattle get something bought. A primary reason for this is the affordability of our animals. I FULLY expect the same for this sale. Starting the bulls at $5000 each is less than half of what a lot of production sales will average. Starting bred heifers at $4000 each is about what OPEN replacement heifers are bringing (see above). You have a massive number of seedstock producers to pick from when choosing breeding bulls. On one hand I wonder why more people don’t choose us and on the other I wonder why anyone does. We are honored and humbled whenever you choose us. Since our inception you’ve been able to buy excellent, relatively VERY low-cost bulls and bred heifers from a system that puts pressure on the animals to thrive in a forage only environment. The beef that will come from these animals; taste, tenderness, marbling…JUICINESS…will be top-of-the-world…grass or grain-finished.

I know this because I’ve lived this: Cheap is for losers, value is for winners. The chasm between cheap and inexpensive is wide. I can’t think of a time when cheap didn’t cost more in the long run. I’ve had a good friend for decades tell me to buy what I want, not skimp on something that’s not just right…he’s right. Now, land is NEVER cheap, or inexpensive…but seems to work out…buy it anyway. I don’t need a new $100,000 pickup (or anywhere close) but to find an inexpensive, well-taken-care-of 20-year-old pickup seems reasonable. If you’ve been a good steward, you always have enough money to buy whatever you want as long as you want reasonably! Wanting reasonably is easier than being broke, but not always easy.

It is easier to avoid temptation than resist it. Just because you can resist the devil doesn’t mean you should be having drinks with him.

The world is ultimately deceiving. You may see a millionaire driving an old Honda and someone broke driving a new pickup. You have no idea, don’t concern yourself with impressing others with your stuff.

A Godly life isn’t easy. A Godly life is one that makes you a Godly person, and that’s a hard life.

The world will not devote itself to making you happy. It won’t even care.

Do we have a moral calling to combat evil or simply let it reign? Was the NT written from a position of power or weakness? (YES) Who grants power? Power ordained should not be ceded to evil, there is a righteous fight. Apart from Christianity the entire world would be in the grips of brutal, evil, stifling dictators. Much of the world this moment, and especially throughout history, is/was a terrible place to live. We have been so comfortable for so long we are missing the call to action. The call is “standing”, taking thoughts captive, but could become fighting. We don’t get to turn SOMEONE ELSE’S cheek. We must defend, laying down our lives, for those we love.

Grace to you!