Bull Sales and Bright Orange Chargers
Monday was a fresh week and the start of new experiences, as I hired a car for the first time! An Australian driving in the US is as awkward as you imagine – I was on the wrong side of the car, and wrong side of the road! Old habits really do die hard too – so many times I tried to grab the gear stick with my left hand, hitting the door! Or pull my seatbelt with my right hand – which just grabbed air! So with a new appreciation of freedom and driving skills, I headed out to the Lyons Ranch bull sale, just outside of Manhattan.
There have been some notable differences in sales when compared to back home in Aus – and I am enjoying seeing the unique stamp each breeder puts on their sale. I am still not used to the American way of selling, but can appreciate the skill shown by each of the auctioneers that I have encountered so far. This sale I found a little unusual, as they weren’t selling in catalogue order, but saw strong bidding competition none the less.
Tuesday I returned my rental car – I caught myself driving on the wrong side of the road just once – so I’ll call it a winning experience!
Its peak sale time here in Kansas, there is a bull sale almost every day! So I jumped at the opportunity to drive out to BJ’s Genetics with a classmate and inspect their bulls prior to their sale the following day. Not unlike Australia, buyers here are looking for structurally sound, easy-care cattle, and are therefore placing high scrutiny on feet and legs, and calving ease EPD’s of bulls. I was surprised to see that both young and older bulls were being sold, along with some heifers and cows – more a production type sale than a bull sale.
One of the perks of attending a university like K-State, with such incredible facilities, is that they also showcase the end product – this weeks purchases:
Thursday’s are proving to be my favourite day of the week – this week was no exception! Our beef systems class headed out to Downey Ranch, where they first showed us the Sandhills Grazing method in action. After hearing about this concept in class, I’ll admit that I was incredibly curious as to its effectiveness – but curiosity cured! We watched three people, sort over 300 pairs in less than 30mins!
The basic concept of Sandhills, is that you move the cows that haven’t calved onto fresh pasture leaving the cows that have calved, with their calves behind in the existing pasture. Promoting good health in the calves, as brand new calves aren’t mixed with month old calves. The maternal instincts of the cows make sorting relatively simple, as cows go looking for their calves, and cows yet to calve go looking for the fresh feed. We then headed back to their sale barn, where they were generous enough to share their story, business philosophies and thoughts on progress, industry and the future.
As I don’t have an American credit card, hiring cars here can be a little tricky and limited – but the car hire company certainly showed a sense of humour when I arrived at their office on Friday morning ready to drive to a bull sale, and they gave me the keys to a bright orange Dodge Charger!! I drove to Bar S Ranch – between Russell and Paradise, KS – after a slight argument with my GPS, which took me the wrong way, and ended me in a field just off the interstate highway – I did eventually find the ranch! Although the bright orange charger wasn’t exactly the subtle entrance I was looking for, as I pulled into the paddock parking area full of farm utes, I did manage to have a good laugh at myself!
Grabbed a catalogue, and made my way to the pens to inspect the line up of Angus, Red Angus and Charolais bulls, and Angus heifers. Once I’d found my spot in the ring to watch the auction – I was surprised to see the normal cattle panels replaced by TV screens. Rather than running each bull through the sale barn, they simply showed video footage of the bulls during the selling process. This sale also didn’t sell in catalogue order, and between keeping track of the lot and understanding the price the auctioneer was knocking down – was a lot of juggling and concentration for this Australian!
Saturday was KSU Sheep Producers Day – and I couldn’t resist attending! Some of the topics discussed were incredibly interesting, and some I’ll honestly say shocked me! I enjoyed hearing about the concept of accelerated lambing, having 3 lambs in 2 years! And that achieving over 120% lambing was still not a sustainable number in Kansas, and that they were looking to be 160% or more! I was surprised that vaccination was a topic of debate, with a variation in applications from growers – with some not practising any vaccination programs at all!
A shearing and wool handling demonstration rounded out the day, the wool price has previously been negligible but appears to be increasing – so there was a great deal of interest and questions, particularly around skirting and sorting. As an Australian wool classer, I was incredibly surprised by the contrast in our practises and grower priorities. I was also able to chat with Alex Moser, current US National Champion shearer, I think this conversation was the biggest surprise of the day! He told me a little about shearing in the US, that they take not only their own gear, but their own oil, plant and catching pen set up! They will shear wet sheep, sometimes even rounding them up themselves and that there is no award for wages or expectations here. I left this day and conversation with an incredible appreciation for what I have back home in Aus!
