REGINA – Scott Blair has come to the commercial show and sale at Canadian Western Agribition for the last 10 years and not only brings consistent stock, but receives consistently high bids for his cattle.
He got the top price of the day of $1,850 for each of his 10 replacement heifers. He also had a reserve champion pen of five bred heifers and received $1,775.
“This is a good promotion for commercial people because you can make good contacts,” he said during the sale on Nov. 26.
Blair runs 400 cows at Drake, Sask., and raises Simmental-Red Angus cross heifers and steers that catch the buyers’ eyes.
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“It’s a tough competition. It’s the premium show of everywhere,” he said.
While all the cattle are judged the day before for consistency, uniformity and quality, the buyer remains king.
“The real judges are in the sale ring,” he said.
Blair custom finishes his feeders at Poundmaker Feedlot at Lanigan, Sask., so he can get his performance data and constantly assess his farm’s progress.
He is among the first Saskatchewan producers to join the national verified beef program under which he has spent about 30 hours working through the food safety program, audits and certification.
As judge of the feeder and backgrounder section, Jim Henderson of Del Bonita, Alta., found the quality better than ever.
“Consistency ran from the top to the bottom,” he said during the sale. “It was hard to put somebody in last place.”
This year’s sale showed a renewed optimism among buyers and sellers, with an offering of 895 head of cattle selling for a total of $911,770.
There were 45 head of backgrounding cattle with an average weight of 571 pounds selling for the average price of $1.43 per lb. The 300 feeder steers averaged 759 lb. and sold for an average $1.26.
Feeder heifers weighing an average 659 lb. earned an average of $1.12 per lb.
Open replacement heifers averaging 689 lb. went for an average of $798 each while the bred heifers at 1,132 lb. averaged $1,321 each.
Grand champion pen of 10 backgrounder steers went to McKenzie Livestock of Weyburn, Sask., for $1.40 per lb. on an average weight of 569 lb.
Reserve grand champion pen of 20 backgrounder steers went to Reed Andrew of Regina, who received $1.44 a lb. Andrew also had the reserve champion pen of 10 backgrounder steers and received $1.41.
The champion pen of five backgrounder steers was from Hill 22 Ranching of Lockwood, Sask., with a final price of $1.42.
Grand champion pen of 10 feeder steers went to Bar Crossroads Ranch of Edam, Sask., and received $1.23 a lb. This ranch also had the reserve champion pen of five feeder steers and 10 feeder heifers. The final bid on the steers was $1.15 a lb. while the heifers earned $1.11. The ranch also won champion pen of five feeder heifers and earned $1.09.
Ryan Holdstock of Weyburn won the reserve grand champion pen of five feeder steers and sold them for $1.30 a lb.
The champion pen of 20 feeder steers went to Thorsteinson Land and Cattle Co. of Foam Lake, Sask., and sold for $1.25.
Reserve champion pen of 20 feeder steers sold for $1.22 and came from Vermeulen Farms of Ceylon, Sask.
Reserve champion pen of 10 feeder steers came from Perry and Johanna Powell of Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., and sold for $1.22. The Powells also had pen of 10 feeder heifers and were paid $1.11.
The reserve champion pen of five feeder heifers was Debenham Cattle of Kennedy, Sask., with a final bid of $1.10.
The grand champion pen of five replacement open heifers were from Glendar Angus of Mankota, Sask., and sold for a final bid of $1,000 each.
Reserve champion pen of replacement open heifers in a pen of 10 went to Sentes Farms of Raymore, Sask., selling for $830 each.
The reserve champion pen of 10 open replacements was ABC Cattle Co. of Whitewood, Sask., for $780.
The grand champion pen of replacement bred heifers in a pen of 10 went to Elford Ranch, Ltd. of McCord, Sask., for $1,500.
The reserve champion pen of replacement bred heifers went to Gord Kistner of Lumsden, Sask., who received $1,400.
The champion pen of five bred replacement heifers was from M & J Farms of Russell, Man., and sold for $1,425. The reserve pen of five was from Blair Farms selling for $1,775.
