Where Were The Red Buyers?
MOUNT VERNON, MO.
Where were the red heifer buyers tonight? Those were auctioneer Jackie Moore’s first words after he sold the last of 256 heifers at the May 21 University of Missouri Extension Show-Me-Select heifer sale at Joplin Regional Stockyards. The overall average on the heifers was $1,751, but prices ranged from $1,150 to $2,400.
The hair color did seem to be a factor on the offering average. Some groups did have mixed colors, but the 62 head of reds and tans averaged $1,455. The 103 head of mostly solid blacks averaged $1,703.
The hot ticket on sale average was $1,925 on 88 black baldies and black mottled-faced heifers.
The sale top at $2,400 per head was paid by repeat buyer Kevin Booth of Booth Farms, Goodman. There were nine head in two separate lots at that price. The seller was John Wheeler, Marionville. The baldies were synchronized and bred by artificial insemination to the popular Angus bull, Mill Bar Hickok 7242. They are due to calve Sept. 4. Their average weight was 1,090 pounds.
Booth purchased 20 heifers at an average price of $2,345.
The volume buyer of the sale was longtime customer Robert Koehler, Verona, who took home 31 heifers at an average of $1,753. As in the past, his selection came from several different consignors at prices ranging from $1,600 to $1,900. He did include five Tier Two heifers and 17 head that had been genomically evaluated. The selection was a mix of reds and blacks.
Randy Chandler, Anderson, made a purchase of 10 baldy heifers from Kathy Wheeler, Marionville, for an average of $2,220. Repeat buyer Mark Akin, Sheldon, bought 26 heifers at an average of $1,988. His purchases included 21 head from Marvin Phipps, Cassville, and five head from Don Hounschell, Stark City.
The Show-Me-Select program is a value-added opportunity for both cow- calf owners and buyers of open, weaned heifer calves they develop for almost a year. During that period, they undergo a number of processes such as heat synchronization, fixed-time artificial insemination, genomic testing and early pregnancy testing.
The program began in 1997 with the first sale here at Joplin Regional Stockyards, where 44 sales have sold 11,477 heifers for 163 owners.
Many of the repeat buyers are smaller cow-calf producers who found it more profitable to buy rather than raise their replacements.
The Show-Me-Select sponsors include Missouri SMS Inc., the MU Division of Animal Sciences, MU Extension, Southwest Missouri Beef Cattle Improvement Association, the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, Missouri Cattlemen’s Association and the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
The next sale of SMS bred heifers at Joplin Regional Stockyards will be Nov. 19. For more information, visit extension.missouri.edu/programs/show-me-select-replacement-heifer-program. ∆