I went back to Tulsa State Fair on friday morning to see the sale of the junior steers that I had seen judged the previous day. After the overall champions had been picked in each breed the day before the judge carried on selecting the animals that would be sold in the auction, in that order. It was interesting to watch the sale, with the supreme champions of each species selling first then the reserves, followed but the selected order for each species. The champion steer made $35,000, the champion pig $17,000, the champion wether lamb $15,000, champion meat goat $12,000 and champion trio of broiler hens, $9,000. Thats a lot of education paid for although I think the goat and hens were the most profitable. It was a good event with the kids being put centre stage. Despite my dislike of the background to the show the previous day. As a reality check, the reserves didnt make quite so much nor did the breed champions. I didnt hang around to see them all sold as I had a visit to the Star Lake cattle Ranch that afternoon, I did however see the Hereford champion sold for $5700.
I had a great tour of the cattle that will be in their sale on the 18th of October, seeing the heifer calf pairs, some weaned heifer and bull calves as well as the stock bulls. (picture above) who were all running together quite peacefully! It was really interesting seeing the cattle in the flesh as they are much bigger in real life than in the pictures and highlights the dangers of trusting what you see in catalogues and magazines. Learning about the breeding goals and direction was a revelation also, the phrase "you should never judge a book by its cover" is so true in all aspects of life and business. It was a real no nonsense visit from which I came away with a different perspective on this unique operation.
Star lake has got to be the elite Poll Hereford herd in the USA right now. They dominate the sale ring and show ring scooping the Champion carload award 8 times in a row. 
The carload competition goes back to the days when 10 cattle would have arrived in a railway car at the stockyards for sale or processing. That is a remarkable achievement. 
What makes this even more remarkable is the terrain and enviromnent these cattle are produced in, lots of scope but all native unimproved grass. It just continues to surprise me the conditions many of these leading herds work in and how the Hereford cow has adapted to them.
The carload competition goes back to the days when 10 cattle would have arrived in a railway car at the stockyards for sale or processing. That is a remarkable achievement. What makes this even more remarkable is the terrain and enviromnent these cattle are produced in, lots of scope but all native unimproved grass. It just continues to surprise me the conditions many of these leading herds work in and how the Hereford cow has adapted to them.I had a great tour of the cattle that will be in their sale on the 18th of October, seeing the heifer calf pairs, some weaned heifer and bull calves as well as the stock bulls. (picture above) who were all running together quite peacefully! It was really interesting seeing the cattle in the flesh as they are much bigger in real life than in the pictures and highlights the dangers of trusting what you see in catalogues and magazines. Learning about the breeding goals and direction was a revelation also, the phrase "you should never judge a book by its cover" is so true in all aspects of life and business. It was a real no nonsense visit from which I came away with a different perspective on this unique operation.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment