The Mader family of Carstairs, Alta., are walking on air following the sale of their Simmental bull calf for $280,000 earlier this month.
“It’s a humbling experience when people put their trust in your program and what you’ve put together over the past 50 years,” said Mader Ranches patriarch Randy Mader.
Born in January 2021 at 85 pounds, the purebred Simmental bull calf, Mader Walk the Line, sold at 1,400 lb. during the Bohrson Marketing’s Friday Night Lights sale in Olds, Alta., Dec. 17.
There were signs the bull was going to do well this fall after showings at Edmonton’s Farmfair International and the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, said Mader, who runs the operation with his wife, Ronda, son and daughter-in-law Riley and Jill and grandchildren Stella,11, and Hawkins, 9.
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A top-five finish during Farmfair’s Supreme Show of Champions set the table for the record sale for Mader Ranches, said Mader.
“He made it into the top five of all breeds. It’s the first time ever a calf has made it into the supreme final.”
That was followed by a top 10 showing at Agribition.
“He kept growing in interest, certainly among the Simmental breeders,” said Mader.
He said they were going to wait until February to sell the bull but interest in the calf proved enough to convince the Maders to put it on the block earlier.
“He sold first in the sale and we just kind of sat in awe as the price kept going up.”
Purchased jointly by Canadian Sire and KT Ranches out of Kelowna, B.C., Randy said he expects there to be a lot of interest in semen packages judging from the interest he received prior to the sale.
As for what made Mader Walk the Line so popular, Mader said the bull ticked all the boxes from growth rate to structure.
He added the bull’s sisters have also been proven to have solid genetics.
“We sold one last year for $35,000 and there was another one a partner sold for $45,000,” he said, adding two more sold for $30,000 and $60,000 this year.
“Genetically, the bull has got a tremendous sire behind him and a tremendous dam.”
While it’s been a tough year for most ranchers across the Prairies, Mader said the sale coming right before Christmas has helped make up the ground lost to the drought.
