WEEKLY AUCTION DRAWS A CROWD

FRUITLAND, Mo. -- Dale Gupton stopped by the Fruitland Livestock Auction Barn's office to check on the starting time for the sale of his cattle Tuesday afternoon.

Gupton, of Cunningham, Ky., brought 30 head of cattle for the weekly livestock auction.

Gene Petzoldt of the Fruitland area stopped by the barn office to pay for a couple of calves.

And David Fussell of Gypsy stopped by to pay for a pot-bellied pig he had purchased a few minutes earlier.

"We're completely computerized," said Debbie Schnurbusch, office manager of the barn on livestock sales day.

"Someone can make a purchase or a sale, and we can issue a check or a statement within minutes," said Schnurbusch, who works in the office with Marci Preusser.

The parking lot at the auction barn just north of Fruitland on U.S. 61 started filling up early Tuesday with mostly pickup trucks towing livestock trailers.

"By sale time about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday we had 500 animals," said Schnurbusch.

Although the bulk of the animals for this week's sale were feeder cattle, eight goats, 67 hogs and one sheep were first on the auction schedule.

The first two goats were disposed of quickly followed by a small billy goat. In turn, livestock auctioneer Kenny Carney dispensed with the remainder of the goats, the sheep and the pot-bellied pig.

Then came starter piglets, 27 of them in one group and 24 in another, before the feeder cattle, the main order of the day.

"We sell mostly feeder cattle at least three Tuesdays a month," said Neal Franke, barn manager for the weekly livestock auction. "Most of the sheep, goats and pigs are sold the first Tuesday of the month. We do have a few goats and pigs every week."

The Fruitland Livestock Auction is held every Tuesday.

The Preusser family operates the weekly auctions. This includes Steve, Jeff, Mark and Marian Preusser. Marian Preusser also operates the Fruitland Livestock Restaurant, which offers lunches and sandwiches on sale day.

As many as 100 to 150 buyers and sellers attend the session, but there are times when the barn will be at its capacity of 250.

More than 100 people were at Tuesday's sale.

A lot of the buyers are order buyers, said Schnurbusch. Order buyers purchase livestock for new owners in other areas and states.

The auction goes through an average of about 600 animals a week, but on some days as many at 1,000 to 1,200 animals are available.

Sales officials say the annual feeder-yearling sale scheduled Oct. 17 should easily top 1,000 animals.

The Fruitland Auction Barn has been around for more than 30 years. The Preusser family purchased the operation in 1995.

Sales have been good since the move from Friday to Tuesday, the operators said. Sales also have increased since the close of the East St. Louis Livestock Market last year.

"We get a lot more people from Southern Illinois," said Schnurbusch.

Livestock producers from Missouri, Illinois and western Kentucky start bringing their livestock to the auction barn each Sunday.

"Some come in on Monday, and a lot come in Tuesday before the 12:30 p.m. start," said Franke.