RED DEER – A string of victories by a powerful Red Angus bull named
Stallion, including the supreme champion title at last year’s Canadian
Western Agribition, continues to attract more awards for the bull’s
owners.
The Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society has named Bryan and Sherry
Mackenzie of Pincher Creek, Alta., as purebred breeders of the year.
The couple’s latest victory was announced at the Red Roundup sale in
Red Deer last month.
The bull’s 2001 winning streak included grand championships awards at
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local shows, Calgary Stampede, Edmonton Farmfair and the provincial
exhibition in Armstrong, B.C.
But the jewel in the Mackenzies’ crown was winning the supreme champion
bull at last year’s Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.
This year, the seven animals on the Brylor Ranch’s show circuit are led
by a new two-year-old bull named Phoenix. It qualified for Agribition
by winning a major livestock show in Billings, Montana. It was also
grand champion Angus bull at the Calgary Stampede last summer.
But while their show ring stature has soared, the Mackenzies have had
less luck with Mother Nature. The ranch faced one of the worst droughts
on record this summer.
Still, Bryan is confident about the future of the purebred bull
business. “A lot of older bulls were sold rather than fed over the
winter. The price of bulls this spring will be up.”
In the last several years, Byrlor-bred animals have helped the ranch
through tough times by drawing thousands of dollars from buyers at
ranch production sales.
One bull sold for $67,200 at last year’s production sale. The
Mackenzies kept one-third ownership, another third went to a
Millarville, Alta., rancher, and semen sales were shared among 10 other
buyers.
The Brylor Ranch runs 125 cows and has partnership deals with affiliate
herds.
The Mackenzies flush and place 110 embryos a year and hold annual bull
and female production sales in southern Alberta.
The family also owns a sales management company that handles 10-12
sales a year for clients. In addition, its semen company sells 4,000
straws of Brylor bull genetics annually.
For 34-year-old Bryan, life is a series of deals, sales and shows,
while maintaining his hold on managing an 800 acre ranch.
Bryan met his wife Sherry while she worked as an animal health
technician at the Calgary Bull Sale. They married in 1997 and travelled
to Tennessee for their honeymoon. Within four days they bought a bull
that sired part of their winning show team.
“He turned out to be the best investment of our life,” Mackenzie said.
Agribition runs Nov. 25-30 in Regina.
