Benefiting from Bull Sales
Is buying a bull at a sale, art, science or a little of both? That 's our topic on today’s Open Range, stay tuned after the break I’m Susan Allen. Bull sales are in full swing and I recently have been noticing quite a few internet postings on selecting the perfect bull at a sale. While it seems elementary, professionals recommend on focusing on factors that impact profitability which means studying the sales catalog in depth to eliminate bulls that don’t meet your criteria. Many cattle producers spend time researching EPD’s for traits that they want to add to their herd. In a nutshell EPD stands for, the “Expected Progeny Difference” basically it provides producers a way to predict the bulls merit in producing specific traits. So you make your list of potential bulls, then arrive early at the sale and use your eye to evaluate traits that don’t have EPDS, like disposition, soundness or fleshing quality. If you end up with the winning bid, the process isn’t finished veterinarians recommend a well thought out procedure for integrating the new bull . Studies have found that yearling bulls purchased as new herd sires should have at the minimum two to three months to settle in before the breeding season, to not only get into top condition but also learn how to adjust to the other bulls. In the end, buying a bull from selection, to sale, to the ranch is something the average producer doesn’t do that frequently and each stage of the process is important and can impact profitability.
