Hereford sales | Canadians make the long trip to Western Stock Show to capitalize on lucrative American market
DENVER, Colo. — For two longtime Hereford breeders, the National Western Stock Show in Denver is the place to be if they want to trade cattle.
Hills Galore Stock Farm at Hazlet, Sask., has been in the Hereford business for 54 years. Owner Alvin Pawlitza had travelled to Denver since 1997 until the BSE crisis blocked him in 2003.
He decided to return last year, and the response was so good that he made selling registered Herefords part of his business plan.
“We seem to be able to find a market for them here,” he said.
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“This is where it’s hot.”
Pawlitza and his wife, Mary-Kate, annually sell 60 to 70 purebred Hereford and Angus bulls from the ranch. This year they took a pen of heifers and a pen of bulls to show and sell.
“We had a good response last year so we decided to come back,” he said while relaxing in his booth in an area of the show referred to as “the yards.”
It is part of the historical Union Stockyards where cattle, sheep and hogs were bought, sold and sent to nearby packing plants.
Today, the corral pens are taken over by breeders, who show their cattle outdoors whether it snows, rains or blows. There were windy days this year, but the temperature hovered around 10 C.
The stock show is not as large as it once was, which is a reflection of North America’s smaller cow herd, said Pawlitza.
Yet for him, it remains a major marketplace to showcase his cattle to visitors from around the world.
Canadians offer different pedigrees and genetics, and displaying them outdoors allows potential customers to take a good look beyond the well primped animals presented in the show ring.
Pawlitza sold semen and 20 heifers off the farm because of contacts he made at the show last year and he was hoping to repeat that success.
It is a big commitment that takes him and his crew of helpers away from home for 12 days. The work gets done with help from his children, nieces, nephews and friends.
Karl Lischka of ANL Polled Herefords is another longtime competitor at Denver going back to the late 1980s.
“This is a good place to market cattle,” he said.
Half the cattle from his annual production sale end up stateside, which he attributes to his presence at the stock show.
He sold two heifers from his stalls in Denver to a buyer in Missouri. They will not come back to Canada.
He would like to take advantage of the latest marketing opportunity: selling females into the growing junior program. Heifers are going for up to six figures to youth members.
His family has been breeding Here-fords for 50 years, and even though he has bought many American bulls, he feels he can still offer something different from what is found in the larger U.S. herd.
The U.S. is a lucrative market because Americans are willing to pay top dollar. Interest in Herefords is rebuilding as producers look for straight bred cattle as well as viable crosses with their Angus.
These animals retain the hardiness of a British breed and can be sold into the Certified Angus Beef program or the certified Hereford beef scheme in the United States.
They can also handle rough conditions presented to them in the U.S. Plains.
“There is more land that is harsher than Canada,” he said.
Denver is 1,300 kilometres from his farm at Steelman, Sask., but he considers it the Super Bowl of beef shows.
