|
North
Alabama Bull Sale Slated for December
Auburn, Dec. 4, 2003 ---
The 31st North Alabama Beef
Cattle Improvement Association Bull Sale will be held Dec. 13 at the
Cullman Stockyards in Cullman. Sixty-seven bulls representing five
breeds will pass through the sale ring.
Butch Blaylock, an animal scientist
with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, said the average weight
of the bulls coming off test in early November was 1,388 pounds.
“This is a great set of bulls. They
had an average daily gain of 4.23 pounds per day and a weight per day
of age of 3.42 pounds,” he said. “Producers will have great choices
of Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Simmental and Simmental composite
bulls. There will also be a select group of open heifers being sold
following the bull sale.”
The bull sale will start at 11 a.m.
Last year, the top selling bull was an
Angus consigned by Lawler Farms of Opelika that sold for $3,200.
Sixty-two bulls and 30 open heifers were sold in the 2002 sale with a
gross of $139,265. The average bull price was $1,927, and the average
price for the open heifers was
$682.
County agents and animal scientists
with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System started the North
Alabama Bull Test in 1972. Located on Behel Stock Farm in
Greenhill, it was called the North Alabama BCIA Bull Test Station.
The station tested bulls that born October through February and then
were sold on the farm each year.
In 1991, the station moved to a new
facility on Donaldson Farms in Cullman County, and the name was
changed to the North
Alabama Bull Evaluation Center.
“Bulls are fed and managed in outside
paddocks located on steep inclines, making for better physical
condition at sale time,” said Blaylock. “The NABEC has gained a
reputation of developing sound, hardened yearlings.”
Since 1991, more than 800 bulls have
been evaluated and sold at annual sales held at the Cullman Livestock
Auction. Sales usually average from $1,700 to $2,000. Prices have
ranged from $700 in earlier days to $25,500 for the highest selling
bull ever offered at NABEC.
Article
in MS Word
Article
in Text
|
