2012 Iowa Beef Expo Recap

This year the Iowa Beef Expo Hereford Sale was one of the best that there has been. There wasn’t as much high-end money in the sale but the average stayed very high. The high seller was sold by Landt Herefords and he was a two-year old bull that sold for $8,100 headed to Wisconsin. The high selling heifer was sold by the Deppe Bros. and she sold for $6,800 and went to Nebraska. The night before the sale Mr. Jack Ward the director of breed improvement with the AHA came up to do a question and answer period with the consignors and there was a good discussion about the direction of the Hereford Breed. It was great to meet with all of our Hereford friends and make a few new ones.

When the JJB Cattle hit the ring they sold well and I was very proud to have them there. The bull who was the youngest in the sale sold for $2,850 and went down to Missouri, I didn’t get a chance to talk with the new owners but Crystal did and she found out the Forrest is headed down to breed some mostly commercial cows that have a Simmental base, this made me smile. Firework went in the ring next and she sold for $6,000 and went to a junior member from Iowa Falls named Colin Johnson. It was a great pleasure to meet Colin as well as his father, uncle and grandmother. I can’t wait to see Firework as she hits the show road in Colin’s capable care. The last of our entries to hit the ring ended up coming back home on the trailer. I may place too much value on my own cattle but we are growing this herd and need to continue to grow. I can say I never thought I would be so excited about a no sale. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face when I realized Shelly was coming home with me.

I would like to thank Mr. Joe Rickabaugh with the AHA for the great work that he does with this sale. Joe goes out and handpicks each of the lots for this sale and has really made it one of the best consignment sales in the country. Mr. Monte Lowderman does one hell of a job as the auctioneer of this sale and I hope we can keep him on board for a long time. As I mentioned before Mr. Jack Ward coming to the sale is a great deal and having his knowledge and insight in the box on sale day is even greater. And last but not least Mike and Becky Simpson do a really good job of keeping everything in order, without the great organizational skills of Becky I’m not sure we would get this deal done as smoothly.

Once again thanks to everyone that bid on our animals and if you didn’t get one bought give me a call and stop on by the farm. We still have a few to sell and I think you will like what you find.