College Student Raised Top Bull

George Richburg, 21, could be any other college senior. He is carrying a full course load as an agricultural economics major at Auburn University and works at a local grocery to pay the bills. That might be enough for many students, but Richburg has another job as well.

Richburg owns Richburg Cattle with his father, Mahlon Richburg. Working with his dad in the cattle business is a natural after more than 10 years in 4-H and FFA, showing beef cattle.

This year, Richburg consigned two Angus bulls to the Auburn Bull Test and one to the Wiregrass Bull Test.

One of the bulls consigned to the Auburn test outperformed almost 80 other bulls, making Richburg, the youngest consigner in test history to own the top bull.

That bull, G R Merger 018, is a direct result of Richburg's active show career in the youth livestock arena.

"This bull is the son of the best show heifer I ever had," says Richburg. "She won the state heifer show five or six years ago as well as winning a class at Angus Junior Nationals. As a matter of fact, I showed the two together as a cow-calf pair at last year's Angus Field Day."

Richburg's other bull at the Auburn test was the fourth highest performing junior bull in the test. The Auburn Bull Test features both a junior and senior division.

Bob Ebert, an animal scientist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) who coordinates 4-H youth livestock events, says he's not surprised by Richburg's success.

"ACES' youth animal science program encourages and promotes youngsters to be involved in all aspects of their beef cattle projects, including genetics and reproductive management," says Ebert. "In George's case, this is the crowning result of a breeding program developed from the nucleus of the heifers that he showed as a 4-H'er."

All three of Richburg's bulls that were consigned to tests this year are the offspring of Angus heifers he showed as a 4-H'er.

Mahlon Richburg agrees with Ebert, adding that to be truly successful a show heifer should develop into a productive member of the herd.

"That bull's mother was a show heifer, which George picked out and bought on his own from an area farm's sale," says Mahlon Richburg. "After her show career ended, she's produced quality calves adding value to our herd."

"We're incredibly proud that a bull George owns was the top bull at the Auburn test," says Richburg. "When we first began consigning bulls to the bull tests, we felt that within a few years we could have a bull near the top. After just three years, we've accomplished that goal."

Richburg says since he and his father have a small operation, consigning bulls to a test provides them with a cost-effective means of dealing with their small herd's bull calves.

"We don't have to allocate pasture or other resources for the bulls. It allows us to get our bulls grown out and ready to be sold," says Richburg. "It gives us the option to merchandise him as a breeding animal instead of being forced to castrate a purebred animal and ship him to the stockyard."

Dr. Lisa Kriese-Anderson, Extension animal scientist and the Auburn Bull Test supervisor, says the test offers good options to small producers as well as large operations.

"Too many small producers think that bull tests are more for the larger producers," says Kriese-Anderson. "But they need to see the possibilities like the Richburgs did."

She explains that a bull consigned to the Auburn test goes on an 84-day feed test. At the end, vital information, such as average daily gain, weight per day of age, and feed efficiency is available on each of the bulls. Bulls must also pass a breeding soundness exam before being included in the test sale.

"Bull test programs afford producers the opportunity to obtain first quality performance data about their animals," says Kriese-Anderson. "They also reap the benefits of having an animal sold at the Auburn Bull Test Sale."

"The test is one of the premier bull tests in the country. Producers transport their animal one time—to the test. There it goes through the feeding test and breeding soundness exam and is held until sale time. Producers don't really have to promote their bulls because the test enjoys such a good reputation among Southeastern cattle operations."

The Auburn Bull Test, begun in 1951, is the oldest continuous performance bull test in the United States. Extension specialists have supervised the test since the early 1980s.

The facilities used by the Bull Test are some of the most modern in the country. Electronically operated feed bunks accurately measure feed consumption on each bull, allowing feed efficiency to be calculated on each bull.

"The Auburn Test is one of the few in the country that can provide this data to the cattle industry," says Kriese-Anderson.

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