Cattle Bleaching

It's hard to believe that the value of the cattle would decrease by $500-$700 per head simply because they were unsightly. These are beef cattle, not show cattle. Bleaching wouldn't affect their meat or (presumably) their hide.

I suspect the drop in price is because they're undesirable in finishing feedlots. Cattlemen are traditionally conservative. To have someone else's juvenile prank in their yard would open them to ridicule. They're also, in general, a bit touchy because they don't know all the 'rules' for a workplace with rising levels of female workers, and they'd rather err on the side of caution when it comes to anything that might mark them as sexist. Also, even in fairly large feedlots, the owner's/manager's wives and daughters are often around the cattle. Trying to explain why the latest batch is covered in dickbutts can go south in a hurry.

There's also a trickle-down effect. If a few of the big buyers are passing on a certain lot, the smaller ones figure there's something wrong with it and don't bid. Fewer bidders mean lower prices.

As long as there isn't a shortage of feeders on the market, not buying a lot at auction because of cosmetics doesn't cost them a thing, and it might prevent problems down the line.