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Show-Me-Select Sale Of Tier Two Heifers Shows Buyer Confidence
A SMS heifer attending the sale.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Erin Larimore
FRUITLAND, MO.
The June 5 Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Sale in Fruitland saw a large turnout of Tier Two heifers, according to sale coordinator and University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist Erin Larimore.
Buyer interest ran strong throughout the sale at SEMO Livestock Sales LLC, with each consignor averaging more than $2,000, Larimore said. “There was excellent demand as shown by the strength of prices through the end of the sale,” she said. “We know of several buyers who did not get to take anything home. There was a lot of bidding action across the barn.”
The large number of consigned Tier Two heifers shows that producers understand the value of proven genetics in their operations, said Jordan Thomas, MU Extension beef specialist. Tier Two heifers are heifers fathered by highly proven AI sires. Buyers of Tier Two heifers can have greater confidence about the genetic merit of those heifers, Thomas said.
“We had 30 Tier Two heifers in the offering, which tells a lot about the effort and thought that each producer puts into their breeding programs,” Larimore said. “They are not just in the business of bettering their own herd, but offering up some of the best genetics to other producers.”
Top consignor in the 47 lots was Kranjec Valley Angus, averaging $3,025 on two registered Angus heifers. Mark Albers of Ellington took home the Tier Two heifers bred to industry-leading sire SydGen Enhance.
Twenty-three buyers took home heifers from the sale. Top buyers included Barry West of Leasburg, who took home eight head, and TRG Livestock LLC of Piggott, Arkansas, with seven.
Online bidders came out strong in the first Fruitland SMS sale to offer online bidding. “Seven lots (10 head) were purchased over the internet, so that definitely played a role in the success of this sale,” Larimore said.
With AI, breeders have access to top genetics in the breed. The SMS protocols set minimum calving-ease EPD (expected progeny difference) for sires used.
This year’s final SMS sale of fall-calving heifers will be June 12 in Farmington. “This is a program that continues to be a nationally recognized source of high-quality, high-information replacements,” Thomas said.
For more details on the MU Extension Show-Me-Select educational program, contact your nearest livestock specialist. For information on Show-Me-Select heifers and sales, held spring and fall, visit agebb.missouri.edu/select. ∆
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