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Bull buyers on a mission
by CATHY GLOVER WILLIAMS LAKE – What do
you do when you sell the dairy farm, lease out your quota and move out of the Fraser Valley? You start accumulating beef cows. At least, that’s what Randy
and Jackie Kitzel did when they settled in Pritchard 12 years ago. After several years of growing out Holstein heifers for the dairy they left behind in Surrey, they’ve made the final transition to beef. And this year, they went shopping for Angus bulls. Kitzel Cattle Co. was not only the volume buyer of Red bulls at the Harvest Angus and Heart of the Valley bull sale in Williams Lake, March
10, they paid $8,000.00 for the high seller, Red Pacific Tracker 22E.
They went to the sale on a mission, says Jackie. “We picked him before the sale and after we saw him, we weren’t going home without him,” she recalls. The yearling, who was wintered on feed in Alberta with his pen mates, tipped the scales at 1,458 lbs and boasted an average daily gain of 4.1 lbs. The Kitzels’ also paid top
dollar for three more bulls at the sale from Brad and Aleta Chappell’s Heart of the Valley herd, based in Courtenay. “They bought breeding
bulls,” Chappell notes. Heart of the Valley’s second highest seller is heading back
Ringman Wilf Smith scans the audience for bids at the Harvest Angus and Heart of the Valley bull sale in Williams Lake in early March. SUBMITTED PHOTO
to Vancouver Island. Liske Farms picked up lot 65, paying a tidy $7,000.00 to take him home. John Solecki took a shine
to Tom DeWaal’s Black bulls at the sale. He paid $6,250.00 for lot 4, Harvest Tour of Duty 206E, and $6,000.00 for lot 7, Harvest Liquid Asset 212E. Both bulls had modest birth weights, making them a sound choice as heifer bulls. Douglas Lake Ranch was
BRITISH COLUMBIA ANGUS ASSOCIATION
www.bcangus.ca BC ANGUS
Tom DeWaal2President 250.960.0022 | Carley Henniger2Secretary 587.830.4175
the volume buyer for Harvest’s black bulls. Chappell isn’t surprised the
sale average was down a bit from their barn-burner sale last year.
“I think the fires and the
drought and their effect on the cows on the range is having an impact,” he says, noting bull sale prices are down even in the Prairies. “Too many cows came in
open and were culled,” he says and that’s bound to have a direct economic impact. He notes one repeat buyer from BC reminded him not only did the range burn, the fences that keep cattle in did, too, and it’s going to take time to rebuild. Normally, Chappell says, that buyer would take home six bulls from the sale. This year, he bought two. “It might have been better
if we had fewer bulls,” he says, but given the circumstances he is genuinely pleased with the outcome. Red Angus bulls averaged $5,300.00.
More sale highlights Peter Trescher of Brisco
picked up the high seller at the RRTS Charolais sale in Kamloops, March 6, held during the regular Tuesday sale. He paid $6,500.00 for lot 57E. Eighteen bulls averaged
$4,605.56. The same day, Still
Meadows Ranch hosted their first Black Angus sale. Their high seller, lot 11, sold to Willow Springs Ranch for $16,500.00. Sale average was $4,325.00. Wayne and Jill Hughes
from Tafika Angus have been selling bulls at their Angus Advantage sale in Kamloops for 18 years. Ian and Bev Smith paid $7,750.00 for the high seller, lot 17E, from among 48 lots on offer on St. Patrick’s Day. The all breed sales will finish up bull sale season this month. Vanderhoof has 71 bulls consigned for their sale on April 14. Williams Lake has catalogued 157 head, including Hereford, Charolais, Simmental, Gelbvieh and Angus, for their sale on April 20.
www.bclivestock.bc.ca
SPRING RANCH EQUIPMENT AUCTIONS
Equipment Auctions Visit our
web page for detailed listings and photos.
Spring Cattle Sales KAMLOOPS APRIL 7th, 17th, VANDERHOOF APRIL 6th,
BC SHORTHORN ASSOCIATION President: Gary Wood 604.536-2800 Cindy Merkley 604-607-7733
BC SHORTHORN MEMBERS HAVE BULLS AVAILABLE BY PRIVATE TREATY LET US PUT YOU IN TOUCH!
24th
WILLIAMS LAKE APRIL 26th OK FALLS APRIL 23rd
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KAMLOOPS HORSE SALE FRIDAY APRIL 27th
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Wade McNolty 250.398.0429
APR APRIL 21
APRIL21 MAY 5th, MAY 12th, MAY 26th,
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Proudly Supporting BC Ranching Since 1943 Celebrating 75 Years
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Wooten Family Farm Equipment Auction - Quesnel, BC BC,s Purebred Breeders,
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Best Bet Bull Sale, Mitchell Cattle Co. & Guest APRIL 14th,
h Williams Lake 1pm
All Breeds Bull Sale APRIL 19th /
81st OK FALLS
Shawn Carter 250.490.5809
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20th, ( Show on the 19th
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- Sale on the 20th ) PROVINCE WIDE
Al Smith 250.570.2143
BULL POWER 2018
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