Big buck$

Another day in Oklahoma and another day of contrast. Why do I make life difficult for myself. Today was the Express Ranches fall bull and commercial female sale which would have totaled 1000 lots. I made an early start to their sale "palace" just north of Yukon OK. What a joint! Trophies, Banners and pictures adourne the walls surrounding the bleachers and carpeted floors, yes carpeted floors, not that the first bull into the ring was impressed as he spread the shavings from the ring all over it and the front row audience.

The cattle were pretty good to. Im sorry to say that the vast majority of bulls as with my visit last week to Sydenstricker's would show up the majority of their contemporaries back home. The performance and conformation of these bulls is exceptional. One disappointment would be the temperament, but this can be narrowed down to a few individuals and a region of the country. At SydGen last week all the bulls had data submitted for docility and EPD's were produced. Its a highly heritable trait and well worth breedng with. The Sydenstricker cattle were a pleasure to walk through, todays were handled from horseback, which I suppose could be down to the numbers involved but that shouldnt be an excuse as there is a way of measuring it!! Top price was about $19,000 with the majority of bulls sitting in the $3000-$4000 area. Not a lot of money for good bulls at 18-20 mths but thats a reflection of the beef trade. I didnt hang around to see the females, Limousin or limflex bulls sold, but Im sure I can dig up some more info on the sale given time.

I headed back to the stockyards as there was a feeder calf sale today and I wanted to see how it operated. For anyone that thought horses and cowboys were a thing of the past you need to come out here. It is the most relaxing thing to watch, cattle being worked by a horse. Thers not shouting or running around they just respond and go, even in the confined alleys of the sale yard. The sale started at 8.00am and will probably continue to 10.00pm, selling maybe 11,000 head as the weather has been wet over the weekend. I had a good chat with the owner of Western Commission Co but its getting too late to tell you more! I have lots of pictures and some video as a special treat! TTFN.