Seventeen-year-old Tyson Pashulka shows family’s winning Maine Anjou bull at National Western Stock Show in Denver
A respectable win at the National Western Stock Show has given one Alberta teen a taste for the big time.
Tyson Pashulka’s Maine Anjou bull was named reserve junior champion, a first for Canadian entrants.
Named Mr Rusylvia Bennilli 6B and shown by the Rusylvia Cattle Co. of Derwent, Alta., the 2014 bull has been winning throughout his show career, said Josie Pashulka.
She and her husband Ken and their three boys, Tyson, 17, Riley, 15 and Taylor, 14 own Rusylvia Cattle and are active on the show circuit.
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After this win they are planning to take a larger string to Denver next year. The trip was 2,120 kilometres one way but they figured the promotional opportunities are worth it.
The boys start early. When they joined 4-H at age nine they were allowed to select a heifer from the family herd of 400 cows. Tyson’s selection went on to become this bull’s dam.
“The mother of the bull was shown and champion all throughout 4-H and other places like (Edmonton’s) Farmfair and (Regina’s Canadian Western) Agribition. He has kept all the offspring,” Josie said.
Tyson showed this bull in the supreme champion shows at the 2015 Farmfair International and Agribition. It was also selected as the Rancher’s Choice bull at the Camrose, Alta., Bull Congress.
The family has retained full ownership in the bull.
“We have had lots of offers on him. There is not a big genetic pool here in Canada and we wouldn’t be able to replace this bull,” Josie said
“The look of him is exactly what we are looking for in the Maines,” she said.
Semen is for sale and a package is going to Australia.
All three boys attend major shows as groomers and show steers and heifers in jackpot shows. Last year they entered 14 shows.
“That is their weekend entertainment,” Josie said.
Rusylvia Cattle Co. runs 400 cows consisting of purebred Maine Anjou, Maintainer and black Angus, as well as commercial animals. The boys have also added some purebred Simmentals.
Josie bought her first Maine female when she joined 4-H and built up a herd. Ken had purebred Limousin when they married and they eventually switched over to Maine Anjou.
Contact barbara.duckworth@producer.com
