Angus and SimmAngus bull sale - Calhoun, GA

[Warren Allison]

Calhoun Bull Test Sale 2023

Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu’s millions of monthly readers. Title: Calhoun Bull Test Sale 2023, Author: squareoneagrimarketing, Length...

issuu.com

 

[coachg]

I got one of those catalogs . Look like some good animals. Only thing that I questioned was the minimum starting bid was $2500

 

[GADAWG79]

I have bought bulls at this sale in the past with no minimum price but I guess things have changed.

 

[kenny thomas]

I got one of those catalogs . Look like some good animals. Only thing that I questioned was the minimum starting bid was $2500

I wouldn't mind the starting bid as bad as i dont want one fattened on test. I bought test station bulls until i learned better. Just didn't work for my management.

 

[simme]

A little information about bull test costs and reasons for minimum bids.

Producers pay for their bulls to be tested. Notice that all bulls are genomic tested. That costs around $50/bull plus cost of sample collection - not much, but adds to out of pocket expense prior to delivery to the test. Notice that the top 2/3 of the bulls in each breed sell per the catalog. The remaining 1/3 do not sell, but the producer still has to pay the cost of testing of those bulls. On average, consign 3 bulls, pay for testing 3 bulls, but get income from 2 bulls. Sell the third bull from home as a bull that did not pass the test. This test is an 84 day test, Clemson test is a 112 day test. I don't know about costs for this test, but cost for test at Clemson is around $1800/bull. Hopefully a little less here for a shorter test.

These bulls appear to finish test in the 1400 to 1500 pound range. Think about the current price for fed cattle at these weights. Hopefully a bull buyer would be ok paying at least the value of a fed steer. I think most bull tests have a minimum bid since the owners cannot "no sale" a bull during the sale. A way to provide some amount of price protection. Any producer who sells a bull for that minimum bid did not come out very well.

 

[Warren Allison]

Videos of the bulls in the catalogue

Georgia Bull Test Sale Calhoun on Vimeo

Join the web’s most supportive community of creators and get high-quality tools for hosting, sharing, and streaming videos in gorgeous HD with no ads.

vimeo.com

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

@simme is soooo right. Heck I sold my weaned steers for $2005. That is a bare minimum for a minimum!

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Not including the cost of semen we have $2 a head a day in them.
2 yr old = $1500 cost minimum.

 

[Ebenezer]

Makes using AI and the same sires of sale bulls on your own cows or buying similar cattle off of the farm without the extra costs more reasonable. The only thing that gets left out of that is the advertising value which consigners are after and the thrill of the buyer to be the winner when they buy the bull. Not my cup of tea.

 

[simme]

Reasons to buy a bull from a bull test:
Get to see all your friends at the sale.
Prestige of owning a bull that graduated college.
Fat bulls look good in pictures.
Tested and ranked against other bulls.
Gain experience in letting an overfed bull down "gently"
Gain experience in detecting that you might be bidding against yourself.
Gain experience in dealing with carb overload.
Get new bulls more often.
See bulls from several breeds and producers.
More and better entertainment.
Avoid seeing what the dam looks like.

Reasons to buy a bull off the farm:
See how bulls were fed and managed.
Possible to see the dam and cow herd.
Possibly lower price.
Avoid crowds and people you don't want to see.
Maybe avoid overfed bulls
Maybe get a longer lasting bull
Maybe get a bull ready to turn out
Fewer phantom bidders.
Quicker loadout.
More and quicker bathroom options.
No food, but maybe the seller will give you a moon pie and RC to tide you over until you get home.

 

[kenny thomas]

Reasons to buy a bull from a bull test:
Get to see all your friends at the sale.
Prestige of owning a bull that graduated college.
Fat bulls look good in pictures.
Tested and ranked against other bulls.
Gain experience in letting an overfed bull down "gently"
Gain experience in detecting that you might be bidding against yourself.
Gain experience in dealing with carb overload.
Get new bulls more often.
See bulls from several breeds and producers.
More and better entertainment.
Avoid seeing what the dam looks like.

Reasons to buy a bull off the farm:
See how bulls were fed and managed.
Possible to see the dam and cow herd.
Possibly lower price.
Avoid crowds and people you don't want to see.
Maybe avoid overfed bulls
Maybe get a longer lasting bull
Maybe get a bull ready to turn out
Fewer phantom bidders.
Quicker loadout.
More and quicker bathroom options.
No food, but maybe the seller will give you a moon pie and RC to tide you over until you get home.

Exactly the reason i don't like test station bulls. If you had sent the 600U bull to Clemson i would not have ever came to look. I seen him as he will be in the future except he will learn to walk on hills and rocks. Clinchvalley86 is teaching them the hills and rocks part.
I missed out on the RC and moon pie part though. Lol

 

[simme]

Exactly the reason i don't like test station bulls. If you had sent the 600U bull to Clemson i would not have ever came to look. I seen him as he will be in the future except he will learn to walk on hills and rocks. Clinchvalley86 is teaching them the hills and rocks part.
I missed out on the RC and moon pie part though. Lol

I understand about the rocks and hills. I am familiar with a pretty large and very old commercial operation east of you over in Russell County. They have pasture rocks there bigger than their houses.

Did @ClinchValley86 eat all the moon pies and not share?

 

[kenny thomas]

I understand about the rocks and hills. I am familiar with a pretty large and very old commercial operation east of you over in Russell County. They have pasture rocks there bigger than their houses.

Did @ClinchValley86 eat all the moon pies and not share?

Im headed over there in a couple hours. Darn sure will ask him about the moon pie.
You must be referring to Stuart Land and Cattle Co. Largest cattle and sheep operation in Virginia for a century. Think the sheep may be gone now though. 30 or 40 years i was in a meeting and the VA extension service was promoting donkeys as the way to protect the sheep. Zane Stuart stood up and said he had tried it and the donkeys killed more lambs than the varmits. Very few coyotes back then so mostly neighbors dogs i guess.

 

[Warren Allison]

I have been going to this sale for 40 years or so. Don't remember exactly when this station opened, but it has been at least 40 years. I have never seen nor heard tell of, a bad bull coming from this sale. Never heard one person that bought a bull at one of these sales, complain about its performance, Granted, I haven't talked to every person that bought a bull every year, but if there were any thing negative about one, you would have heard about it. I know a lot of the producers that have bulls in this sale, and all of them are very reputable breeders. They are not going to send junk to this test nor consign them to this sale. There is another bull test station down in Tifton, and I have been to their sales a few times. They tend to have more south Ga and Florida bulls.. a lot more Brangus, Braford etc., as well as Brahmas. Truth is, these program sales are excellent places to buy top-quality bulls at a more than fair price.

 

[simme]

My previous post is a little humor and a little reality. Looking at the catalog, the bulls for the most part do not appear excessively fat. Bull test rations have been improved in recent years. But no doubt, test rations in past years put a LOT of excess fat on bulls with permanent damage to joints and feet and longevity. Not so much to do with breeders or genetics, but much to do with the ration and feeding program.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

My previous post is a little humor and a little reality. Looking at the catalog, the bulls for the most part do not appear excessively fat. Bull test rations have been improved in recent years. But no doubt, test rations in past years put a LOT of excess fat on bulls with permanent damage to joints and feet and longevity. Not so much to do with breeders or genetics, but much to do with the ration and feeding program.

We had the opposite experience when we sent bulls down to the Cal Poly bull test. They didn't feed our bulls to their genetic potential. Our bulls had the capacity to gain an extra couple hundred pounds. But if the bulls that came creep fed were fed like ours should have been they would have blown up and foundered.

 

[kenny thomas]

Just in case anyone wasn't familiar with a staple from the south.

 

[Warren Allison]

Just in case anyone wasn't familiar with a staple from the south.View attachment 37820

Banana is my favorite!

 

[Ebenezer]

We had the opposite experience when we sent bulls down to the Cal Poly bull test. They didn't feed our bulls to their genetic potential. Our bulls had the capacity to gain an extra couple hundred pounds. But if the bulls that came creep fed were fed like ours should have been they would have blown up and foundered.

I've often wondered what set the phenotype in those bulls. That makes sense. I thought that it was purely environment and climate. They look totally different than any other test station results.