It was fitting to mark the centennial of the Calgary Bull Sale with a champion named Landmark, bred by the grandson of one of the sale founders.
BP Landmark 126H, a 2,400 pound bull owned by Donald Cross, was named grand champion Hereford. Cross is grandson of A.E. Cross, who helped start the bull sale and the Calgary Stampede.
Born at the Cross family’s Bar Pipe Farms at Okotoks, Alta., the bull sold for $34,000 to B & B Cattle Co. and Lawson Herefords from Oregon.
The Calgary sale is thought to be the longest running consignment sale in North America.
Read Also
Canada must address potential veterinary drug shortages
If critical products are unavailable when needed, it could result in unnecessary human and animal deaths in the worst-case scenario.
Buyers come from all over the world to check out Alberta-bred genetics. The breeds may have changed over the years, but the quality remains high for solid range bulls.
This sale is the first major event in the spring bull sale season and is an indicator of the prices ranchers are willing to pay for breeding stock.
It’s also a good bargain for international buyers who are paying with American dollars. On sale day, the exchange was $697.25 (U.S.) for every $1,000 (Cdn) spent.
Held over two days, this year’s offering included Hereford, Angus, Simmental, Charolais and Salers.
The high seller was from Hansons Ranches at Airdrie, Alta. Led by Ron Hanson, the family has had the high-selling bull at Calgary seven times.
Named reserve grand champion, this year’s entry topped the entire sale at $36,000, bought in partnership by Bar Pipe Farms and Stadheim Herefords of North Dakota.
The Hereford average was $4,098 on 255 bulls.
In the Simmental barn, the grand champion was consigned by Drake Cattle Co. of Kathyrn, Alta. It sold for $5,200 to Kee Jim Feedlot Services of Okotoks.
The reserve champion Simmental came from Deeg Simmentals at Lyalta, Alta. It sold for $4,500 to Gordon Turner of Blackie, Alta.
Deegs consigned 10 bulls to the centennial anniversary sale and averaged $4,310. Simmentals averaged $3,418 on 60 head.
The Angus breed made its largest showing ever with 183 bulls on the block. The average was $3,379.
The grand champion Angus sold for $13,000 to Leo Brietzke of Sunny Ridge Angus, at Three Hills, Alta. It was entered by Coldstream Angus, of Airdrie.
The reserve Angus, which sold for $6,700, was entered by Northline Angus, of Bruderheim, Alta. The yearling was bought by Craig and Tom Spady of Alliance, Alta.
The Charolais grand champion came from P & H Ranching, at Innisfail, Alta., and sold to Gordon Church of Balzac, Alta., for $5,100. The high selling Charolais also came from P&H.
A brother of the champion, it sold for $5,500 to Bar N Ghost Pine Ranch at Turner Valley, Alta.
Bar N also bought the reserve grand champion from Hillsthorpe Stock Farm at Stettler, Alta., for $3,900.
The Charolais average was $3,079 on 56 head.
Salers returned after an absence of several years. They turned in an average of $2,550 on 18 head.
The grand champion Salers came from Neil and Nathan Stone of Bowden, Alta. This black yearling went to Pat Harvey of Okotoks for $4,500.
The reserve grand champion is emigrating. It sold for $2,700 to Isreal Tejeda of Zacatecas, Mexico. Buyers from the state of Chihuahua have been touring Alberta, looking mostly at commercial and purebred heifers as well as some bulls.
Overall, the sale brought in $2,087,050 on 572 head to average $3,650. This is up from last year’s average of $3,573.
Next year’s sale is March 4-6.
