Fauquier Livestock Exchange extends reach to Culpeper

Hoping to extend its brand, the Fauquier Livestock Exchange last week held the first of six scheduled monthly cattle sales in Culpeper that could become a permanent thing.

Under its lease with the Culpeper livestock exchange, the Fauquier organization will hold sales on the first Friday of the month, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

“It went very well,” Fauquier Livestock Exchange Manager Lindsay Eastham said of the Jan. 6 sale. “We were expecting [to sell] 200 to 250 [head of cattle] and that’s basically what we got.”

After the September 2010 fire destroyed the Fauquier exchanges big barn and sales arena, the board decided to continue sales in Culpeper.

Meanwhile, the Fauquier exchange board would work with its insurance company to replace the damaged buildings at U.S. 55 and Route 709 near Marshall.

The response to the interim sales in Culpeper proved so successful that the board agreed to a fixed lease that can be extended as demand warrants.

“We have a lot of people in the lower end of the county” who benefit from the convenience of livestock sales in Culpeper, Eastham said. “We made a lot of contacts down there serving them.”

He declined to discuss the details of the Fauquier lease, except to say that it pay the Culpeper exchange based on a formula tied to the percentage of commission based on the kind of animal sold.

The Fauquier exchange held its first sale at the new barn in December, moving about 1,150 head of cattle, said Eastham.

“For this time of the year that’s huge,” he said. “I think there was a lot of curiosity and some people were waiting to come back. Plus, the market’s up.”

Typically, 300 to 400 animals go during the December sale, said Eastham, who also serves on the livestock exchange board.

In three other sales at the new barn, a total of about 620 cattle were sold, he said.

The exchange soon expects to begin construction on the new sales arena, which will seat about 150 people. “With good weather it’ll take about a month to build,” Eastham said. The board hopes insurance money [$1.29 million] will cover the cost of reconstruction.”

“That’s the plan,” Eastham said. “It’s razor-sharp. But we’ll make it work.” The rebuilding effort doesn’t include a new restaurant. Board President Mark Seitz said the exchange remains “committed to having some kind of lunchroom/restaurant there.”