| A Brief History Of
10 acres of land at the southwest edge of Manchester was purchased in 1982 from Les and Martha Fink. Many of the local people would refer to the land as the Verle & Marie McDowell Farm just northeast of the junction of Highways 20 and 13. Les and Martha Fink purchased the farm from the McDowells in 1979. The original shareholders and owners of Manchester Livestock Auction, Inc. were Wesley Waterhouse of Central City, Iowa (Marvin's father), Marvin Waterhouse, Dean State, and Bill Havertape (all of Manchester, Iowa). Construction commenced in the middle of a corn field in late April of 1983 with the first auction being held in November 1983. David Waterhouse (Marvin's son) Bill Havertape, and Marvin Waterhouse are now the shareholders and owners of Manchester Livestock Auction, Inc.
In looking back, we remember the early 1980's being described as the worst economic time for agriculture since The Great Depression of the 1930's. Land prices in the mid to late 1970's ranged from $2,000.00 to $3,750.00 per acre. By the early 1980's these same farms were selling for $750.00 to $1,250.00 per acre. Interest rates were at all time highs (the first money borrowed by Manchester Livestock Auction, Inc. was @ 18%). It was during this time I can vividly remember a local auto dealer telling me that he hadn't figured up a new pickup for anyone in over 90 days! Needless to say, a great many people thought the construction of a livestock auction to be crazy. "There have been two previous sale barns in Manchester and neither of them worked" was commonly being said. On the positive side, it was during this time that businesses were eager for business and a dollar would really stretch. Within a couple of years after opening, the cost of raw materials would have been 10% to 20% higher than it was in 1983.
Being a "local" business, we wanted to do our business "local" when at all possible. The main building was ordered from Chief Industries in Nebraska, but the materials for the inside detail work plus the pen areas were obtained locally. Following is a list of all those involved in the initial construction:
All of these businesses and individuals are special to us. But none are more special than Francis Keenan and Dan Putz of Manchester, Iowa. Francis was a seasoned carpenter and Dan was well on his way to learning the carpentry business. These two, along with some extra help, "finished" the offices, hallways, restaurant, sale arena, loading docks, and pen area. Starting in early May of 1983 and working right up until our Open House in November 1983, Francis and Dan were here 5, and sometimes 6 and 7 days a week. I couldn't say enough good things about them ....... it was our good fortune to have them "ramrod" the construction side by side with Dean State.
Our Open House was held in November 1983 and we estimated 1500 people passed through the doors to view the new facility. The first auction to be held (Thursday November 17, 1983) was a Dairy Dispersal of 114 Holsteins cows and heifers for Rickels Brothers of Monmouth, Iowa. The schedule of those early years was to have a swine and sheep auction on Mondays; a cattle auction on Tuesdays; and a Dairy Sale on the 4th Friday each month. The first swine & sheep auction was held Monday November 21, 1983. The first cattle auction was held Tuesday November 22, 1983. The employees were: Kenny Andrews of Manchester, Iowa; Kathy Dolan of Manchester, Iowa; Jim Funk of Edgewood, Iowa; Dale Gericke of Central City, Iowa; John Goebel of Masonville, Iowa; Richie Hutchinson of Greeley, Iowa; Bernard Langel of Manchester, Iowa; Dave LeClere of Coggon, Iowa; Orvie McCright of Coggon, Iowa; George Rans of Manchester, Iowa; Wayne Sauerbry of Greeley, Iowa; Carol State of Manchester, Iowa; Marvel Swanson of Coggon, Iowa; Penelope Tisl of Masonville, Iowa; Wayne Thompson of Hopkinton, Iowa; Leon Wickman of Ryan, Iowa.
The struggles of those early years were much like the struggles of any new business, except with the added intensity of the economy. By mid 1985 the ag economy began to rebound and by the late 1980's things were pretty much back to normal. During this time, the ideas of Manchester Livestock Auction, Inc were continually promoted and by the late 1980's we could see we were gaining in public acceptance and revenue.
When construction was first completed, we thought we had made the facility larger than needed so we could expand into unused portions. Oops! Since 1983, we've put on 8 additions of yards, loading areas, veterinary work areas, etc. and have sold 1877 head of fed cattle at one auction; 671 head of dairy cattle at another auction.
1993 was the "high water mark" for fed cattle. At our auction on March 23, 1993, Dan Gearhart of Dundee topped the fed steers @ $90.00 and on that same day Art & Germaine Helle topped the fed heifers @ $88.85. The same day, Brian Suckow of Oelwein topped the fed Holstein steers @ $81.75. The highest selling cow we've ever sold (June 22nd 1993) was $65.00 for Earl Wilbur of West Union.
The "highest lows" for cattle were in 1985. On July 30th Alvin Frey of Strawberry Point topped the fed steers @ $49.50 and on that same day Louis & Helen Rowell of Edgewood topped the fed heifers @ $47.75. On July 30, 1985 Dick and Joann Downer of Aurora topped the fed Holstein steers @ $45.75 ....... just one week earlier, Jim Hoeger of Earlville topped the fed Holstein steers @ the same price of $45.75. The highest selling sows were established on November 19, 1996 when Bob, Marge, & Kenny Schaul of Masonville sold 2 head weighing 622 pounds @ $62.50. Almost exactly two years later (November 17, 1998), Merlyn Havertape of Manchester sold 4 head weighing 536 pounds @ $17.35. We could probably write a book about the experiences we've had and the people we've met. Over these years we've met and became well acquainted with literally thousands of the best people you could ever know. We've always considered Manchester Livestock Auction, Inc. as a "great big family" and that includes employees and customers. We've seen some go from rags to riches; we've seen some go from riches to rags; we've experienced births and deaths; and we've become good friends of people that we would not have met if not for Manchester Livestock Auction, Inc. For that, we are certain we're better people and we thank everyone who has been a part of our efforts.
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September 9th, 2003. New Price
Records: Fed Steers $94.75 Bill Kester of Walker; Fed Heifers $93.50 Randy
Helgerson of Elgin also $93.50 Clarence Joyce of Walker. Fed Holstein $89.75 Cass
Way Farms of Anamosa.
September 16th, 2003. A record smashing
sale. New Price Records: Fed Steers $95.25 Steve Nagel of Monticello; Fed
Heifers $94.85 Carl Wegmann of Edgewood. Most overnight delivered fed cattle @ 1777
head. Most fed cattle in one sale @ 1877 head. Most bulls ever sold @ 50
head. Total headcount @ 2131 head. Largest dollar sale @ $2,200,000.00 +
