I don’t know if they are runaway prices, but a couple of people I have talked to were certainly pleased with breeding bull prices this year. The beef industry always has its ups and downs, but it would appear cow-calf producers are feeling pretty good about the outlook over the next couple of years at least.
One Alberta Simmental breeder I recently talked to was very pleased with sale results this year. They saw very good average prices with one exceptional bull selling for more than $160,000. You’ve got to like that.
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Organizers of the 2016 Calgary Bull Sale, as well were also very pleased how the 116th annual sale went in early March. Neal Church, of Church Ranches, who is also president of the Alberta Cattle Breeders Association, says he was pleased to see the support given the 2016 sale.
“The number of consignors was up, the number of bulls was up and average prices were up,” says Church.
And changing the venue of the sale from it’s longtime home at the Calgary Stampede grounds to the new facilities at the Century Downs Racetrack at Balzac, just north of Calgary worked very well, says Church.
Results of the 2016 sale show 102 Hereford bulls averaging $8,772. There were only four Angus bulls but they averaged $6,950. And even the ranch horse sale did well — the 12 sold brought an average price of $9,413.
In 2015, the Calgary Bull Sale sold 84 Hereford bulls for an average of $8,684 and the eight ranch horses had an average price of $9,062. The 2016 results were considerably better than 2014 results which saw 87 Hereford bulls with an average price of $5,190, 13 Angus bulls with an average of $3,540 and 10 ranch horses with an average of $7,475.
The volume buyers at the 2016 Calgary Bull Sale were Guenther Ranch, Miller Ranches and Ron Guenther.
The Grand Champion Hereford at the Calgary sale came from Little Poplar Grove Herefords and it sold to Rogers Hereford Ranch for $25,000. The Reserve Grand Champion was shown by YV Ranch and it sold to XTC Ranches/Raymond White for $10,500.
The high-selling bull was owned by SNS Herefords and it went to Pahl Livestock Ltd for $40,000. The top-selling horse was a Palomino owned by Lorne Davey of Davey Cattle Co. of Wilkie, Sask and went to Jim Randle for $12,250.
