Maintaining the heritage of the world’s oldest continuous consignment bull sale is a serious responsibility for each generation of Alberta purebred beef producers.
The 110-year-old Calgary Bull Sale, held March 3-4, sets the pace for the rest of the bull buying season.
“It is a tradition for us to bring our best bulls to the Calgary Bull Sale and that is why we do well,” said Brad Dallas, president of the Alberta Cattle Breeders and Alberta Hereford Association.
His ranch, CGD Herefords of Bowden, was also awarded grand champion this year. The Dallas family has been at this sale for 35 years and uses this event as a production sale.
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Sale entries were down from past years, with the country recovering from a recession and national cow numbers down to their lowest levels in a decade. The sale will gain momentum as the cattle market regains strength and commercial producers start making a profit again, said Dallas.
“Everybody came to buy the top end bulls this year because a lot of people who may have bought two and three bulls, now they were spending more money on one or two,” he said.
“There were a lot of $2,000 bulls but they were worth way more than that,” he said.
This year saw increased interest from the United States. The dollar was close to par on sale day and 10 bulls will be exported within a few weeks to Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado.
For the last 80 years, this sale has been a Hereford showcase where the white-faced breed dominated, said Gordon Stephenson, general manager of the Canadian Hereford Association. While many breeds have passed before the auction block, Herefords and Aberdeen Angus have been at the sale since it started.
The sale format has changed to a faster pace to adjust to busy ranchers’ lives. This year’s auction was done in five hours.
Veterinarians check each animal for soundness and they also undergo ultrasound tests for carcass merit. Every bull is registered with a lengthy family tree of high performance animals.
“The Canada Pedigree Act guarantees the integrity of every bull sold here,” said Bob Church, whose family has sold bulls at the sale since the 1940s.
In total, 212 bulls sold for $807,450 to average $3,809. Last year, 265 bulls were offered for $925,600, with an average price of $3,493.
The ranch horse sale offered 19 lots for $109,000 to average $5,737.
At the Hereford show and sale, the grand champion was awarded to Dallas. The bull sold for $10,000 to Little Fort Herefords of Little Fort, B.C.
Grant and Annette Hirsch of High River won the reserve banner. That entry became the high selling bull of the day at $27,500. It sold to Doenz Ranches of Warner, Alta.
The Herefords presented 122 animals for a sale total of $486,200 and an average of $3,985.
Gavin and Mabel Hamilton of Innisfail, Alta., entered the top Angus bull. The yearling sold for $6,100 to Lorenz Angus of Markerville, Alta. The Hamiltons also had the high selling Angus with another bull from their string, fetching $20,000 from Pahl Livestock Ltd. of Medicine Hat, Alta. It was the seventh grand championship for the Hamiltons since 2003.
The Hirsches won reserve Angus bull and sold it for $4,900 to G.W. Murray Ranches Ltd. of Tilley, Alta.
Overall, 65 Red and Black Angus sold for $219,750 and averaged $3,381.
The Charolais sale offered 24 bulls for a total of $99,400, with an average price of $4,142.
The grand champion and high selling Charolais was the entry of P and H Ranching of Innisfail. Gordon Church of Balzac, Alta., bought the champion for $8,400. In the last 10 years, Duane Parsonage of P and H has won grand champion six times.
The reserve champion Charolais from Rocky Creek Charolais at Strathmore, Alta., sold for $3,800 to M and R Damon Farms Ltd. at Strathmore.
Jonus Cattle of Calgary offered a Gelbvieh that sold for $2,100 to Nelson Brothers of High River, Alta.
