An international Simmental sale has given the Canadian beef industry a vote of confidence, with more than $300,000 worth of cattle selling at a special sale in Calgary Oct. 24.
The concept of a cross-border sale started last January among Canadian and American Fleckvieh breeders. Plans were finalized May 18 in Dallas, Texas, but an obstacle occurred when Canadian cattle were banned from more than 30 countries after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was announced on May 20.
“It blindsided us. Two days after we organized it, it was all chaos,” said sale manager Brian Bouchard of Airdrie, Alta.
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The group decided it would be business as usual and went ahead with the sale, which drew buyer interest from Canada, the United States and South America.
“We had to take a stand on this and make it internationally friendly,” said Dan Skeels, Simmental breeder and organizer from Rimbey.
The sale ultimately grossed $327,875 on 61 lots to average $5,375. The offering included heifers, bulls, embryos, semen and flushing rights on select fullblood Simmental cows.
The high seller at $42,000 was a bred heifer born in September 2002 from Bar 5 Simmental Stock Farms at Markdale, Ont. It went to Buzzard Hollow Ranch in Granbury, Texas.
Other purchases went to Colombia and Mexico. All animals will be held in Canada and semen and embryos will be drawn and shipped to the new owners, said Bouchard.
Demand for high quality breeding stock persists so purebred producers are lobbying to reopen the border to these animals as soon as possible.
“Seedstock producers can’t wait to get that border open,” said Bouchard.
Organizers of the annual Red Roundup sale agree. Held in Red Deer, this is North America’s largest Red Angus event. While the Americans were not present at this sale, Angus breeders filled the Westerner Park sales area Oct. 25 to bid on some of the best of the breed.
The top selling bull at $25,000 was less than a year old and came from Dale and Shelly Dodgson of Sangudo, Alta.
A bred heifer consigned by Dennis and Shelly Ericson of Westaskiwin, Alta., was the top female at $14,000. Red Roundup grossed $401,750 on 107 lots to average $3,755. A number of embryo and flush lots were also offered.
Shelly Dodgson, president of the Red Angus Promotion Society, said there was never any doubt the sale would happen despite border closures.
“It was going to go through in good times and bad times.
“We’re optimistic and we’ll do what we have to do,” Dodgson said.
People are remaining optimistic that good purebred cattle always bring a fair market price. Red Roundup drew participants from the four western provinces and Ontario, with young cattle being sold across the country for better than average prices.
Other breeds are enjoying equally good acceptance although prices may be softer than last year.
The Remitall Cattle Co. at Olds, Alta., holds sales each fall for polled Hereford and Black Angus.
The Hereford sale, held Oct. 11, averaged $5,900 while the Black Angus sale on Oct. 17 averaged $2,754. Both sales offered a selection of bred heifers, yearling bulls and pairs.Top sellers in the Hereford sale included a two-thirds interest in a female for $30,000, as well as a two-year-old cow selling in the $40,000 range to American buyers.
The sales terms included an agreement for the animals purchased to stay at the ranch where semen and embryos will be drawn and shipped to the new owners. Live shipments have to wait until the border reopens.
“They want the genetics really bad so they are willing to wait,” said Gary Latimer, one of the Remitall family partners.
While there is market uncertainty at this time, Latimer believes top quality cattle can still earn top dollar because high performing animals are needed to bring overall improvement to herds across North America. But there will also be a need for changes in the Canadian cattle business in the aftermath of BSE.
“There are some things we are going to learn in this country. We have to be more independent,” said Latimer.
Canadians need new, improved animal health regulations and need to be more aggressive in creating new markets, he said.
The Richmond family at Rumsey in central Alberta held its annual female sale Oct. 23.
As fourth generation cattle producers who have been in the registered Limousin business for 23 years, they went ahead with their female production sale with the attitude that they must be ready when the border reopens.
“Everyone has the same reservations,” said Stephanie Richmond. The family decided to proceed even if live animals cannot cross the border yet.
“You can’t sit on your hands and wait for it to happen. You have to make do and stay with the industry,” said their sales manager, Wayne Burgess of Venture Livestock at Airdrie.
The Richmond family, consisting of Jim, Stephanie, Stan and Sheila, sold 32 lots with an average of $2,170 on choices of bred heifers, cows and heifer calves.
The family also offered 60 bred commercial heifers sorted into packages of five, which sold for $950 to $1,100 each. Jim Richmond believes if BSE was not creating such uncertainty, the heifers would have been worth another $500 each.
The bred heifer market in their area was worse last year because drought forced many people to sell rather than buy replacements.
