2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale Report
APLX Axel 5Z – High Selling bull at the 2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale
2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale Report
After stormy weather on the week-end, it was nice to see sunny skies and a good crowd in Red Deer to watch 65 bulls sell on Monday, March 18th. First in the ring was a pair of excellent red Simmental bulls consigned by sale stalwarts, Oh Kay Farms.
The two reds were followed into the ring by our very own APLX Axel 5Z who was the lead off fullblood bull. After strong interest from some fellow purebred breeders, Axel was purchased by MI Simmentals – Mike Imler for $11,200. Axel ended up being the overall high seller of the day and we look forward to delivering him to Okotoks to his new home this week-end. It is great that he is staying here in Alberta, where we will be able to see future progeny in the Southern Alberta Simmental Round-up Sales.
Axel was followed in the sale by APLX Edge 4Z, who sold to Barney Beechinor of Bentley for $3,000 and APLX Ajax 15Z who sold to Conostoga Farms of Oyen for $5,500. We look forward to these two bulls going to work in commercial herds here in Alberta. We have added all three bulls to our ‘Applecross @ Work’ section, and hope to provide updates on their development in the future.
Other sale highlights included:
- Lot 28 ‘Champs Richlar’ – a nicely pigmented LRX Jiro son that sold from Champ Simmentals to Big Sky Simmentals of Treherne MB for $7,100
- Lot 41 ‘Starwest Pol Gravity’ an impressive JNR Gravity son that sold from Starwest Simmentals to Clearwater Simmentals of Olds for $6,000
- Lot 35 ‘Keato Pol Revved Up’ a powerful JNR’s Secret son from Keato Meadows Simmentals that was selected by Eagle Ridge Simmentals for $5,800.
Overall the sale grossed just over $236,000 on 65 lots, for an average of $3,632. We would be remiss not to recognize the team at Transcon for doing a tremendous job working the phones and managing the sale – They are always a quality, professional sales management team.
Over the past three years, it has been great to be a part of the Red Deer Bull Sale and 2013 was certainly no exception. We were both humbled and honored with the number of compliments our pen of bulls received throughout the week-end from peers in the purebred industry and commercial cattlemen alike. We strive to produce top quality cattle, and can at times be our own worst critics, so it is wonderful to hear all the kind words. Not a year goes by that we don’t learn how to do things a little better for next year, and it is equally important to continue to receive tips and advice on how to make improvements to our program. With the bull sale now in the rear-view mirror, we look forward to the start of breeding season, and the challenge of developing more bulls for future years.
Our Entries to the 2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale
Our 2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale Entries – From Left: Ajax, Edge and Axel
Our Entries to the 2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale
We are pleased to present three herd bull prospects at Transcon’s 2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale on March 18th at 1:00pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta. This is our third year at this event, and we are proud to be included in the strong offering that is always presented by this progressive group of breeders.
This year’s group consists of two Gidsco Appollo sons (Axel, Ajax), and one from Dora Lee’s Equinox (Edge). The Appollo sons both combine their sires’ dark red colour and maternal strengths and each are backed by outstanding cow families. Ajax also has the intriguing twist of being scurred/polled. As an Equinox son, Edge is also scurred/polled, and showcases the tremendous volume and length of spine that Equinox is becoming known for. Please note that both Ajax and Edge were registered as polled calves, but since that time they have each developed small scurs, which we have left on and that you will notice in the pictures. All three bulls show lots of muscling, and have tremendous hair coats.
Individual pages (short-cut links are located in the right-hand column) have been created for ‘Axel’, ‘Ajax’ and ‘Edge’. The bulls have been developed on a ration of free-choice quality first cut hay, combined with a forage based pellet by Country Junction. The bulls are housed in a 5 acre paddock to ensure lots of exercise, have been tie-broke, and have quiet temperaments. On the individual pages, we have also pictured the sires, dams and grand dams. Maternal lines are very important to us, and we feel that behind every great bull is an outstanding cow family. As some people prefer paper copies, we also have individual bull profiles available in PDF format that can be e-mailed and printed, or sent by regular mail. Please let us know if you would like any additional information on any of our animals.
The 2013 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on March 18th at Westerner Park.
————————————-
Update: As of February 28th, all three bulls measured up nicely and have passed their semen test. Scrotal Circumferences have been addded to their respective individual pages. Next Stop: Red Deer.
2012 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale Report
2012 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale Report
With a winter storm blowing into the eastern part of the province, we were pleased to see sunny skies and a capacity crowd in Red Deer to watch 94 bulls sell on Monday, March 19th. First into the ring was ‘Beech Bro Booster 52Y’ an impressive Upgrade son, who created lots of excitement and ended up topping the sale for $25,000 to Kopp Farms Simmentals in Manitoba.
Our very own APLX Jackson 3Y was the 5th bull in the second group of Fullbloods. After strong interest from some fellow purebred breeders, Jackson was purchased by West Gold Simmentals of Minburn, AB for $12,000. We were both humbled and honoured with the result, and look forward to Jackson getting to work with the fine herd that Ken Gilbert has developed over the years. We would also like to thank Keato Meadows, Little Willow Creek and Big Sky Simmentals for all showing interest in Jackson on sale day. We have added Jackson to our ‘Applecross @ Work’ section, and look forward to providing updates on his development.
Other sale highlights include: Lot 20 ‘Beech Bros Anarchy 604Y’ – a nice red IPU Revlolution son that sold to DGR Cattle Co. for $14,500 and Lot 1 ‘Beech Bros Cobra 69Y’ an impressive Anchor D Viper son that sold to Champ Simmentals for $12,000. As you can see from the high seller list, the Beechinor cattle were extremely well received. Overall the sale grossed $455,000 on 94 lots, for an average of $4,840. Bulls sold to all the Western Provinces, with 6 bulls topping the $10,000 threshold; emphasizing the deep pool of breeder quality bulls that were available in Red Deer.
Once again, we were pleased to be a part of this great showcase of the Simmental breed.
Our Entries to the 2012 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale
We are pleased to present two herd bull prospects at Transcon’s 2012 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale on March 19th at 1:00pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta. This is our second year at this event, and we are proud to be included in the strong offering that is always presented by this progressive group of breeders.
Both of this year’s entries are sired by Dora Lee Jake. I was with Dad when he purchased Jake’s dam, MRLN Josette, as an open heifer from the 1995 Fleck Select sale. We were incredibly happy when the legendary Bob Gordon selected Jake, her first son, to go to stud at ALTA in 1998; and now, 12 years later, we are able to tap into these proven Fleckvieh genetics in our own herd here at Applecross. While Jake may be better known for his daughters (Dora Lee Amelia – a flush cow at Wa-Na-La-Pa, and Dora Lee Elexis – dam of Dora Lee Eclipse and donor in the Anchor D program), we are quite impressed with how these two sons have developed. Both bulls balance the performance of their sire with strong maternal traits from their young dams.
Individual pages (short-cut links are located in the right-hand column) have been created for both ‘Joshua’ and ‘Jackson’. Both bulls are heavily pigmented, have moderate (90-100 lb) birth weights, show lots of muscling, and have tremendous hair coats. The bulls have been developed on a ration of free-choice quality first cut hay, combined with a forage based pellet by Country Junction. The bulls are housed in a 5 acre paddock to ensure lots of exercise, have been tie-broke, and have quiet temperaments.
On the individual pages, we have also pictured the dams. Maternal lines are very important to us, and we feel that behind every great bull is an outstanding mother. We also have additional information and pictures available about the maternal grand dams; should it be of interest. As some people prefer paper copies, we also have individual bull profiles available in PDF format that can be e-mailed and printed, or sent by regular mail. Please let us know if you would like any additional information on any of our animals.
The 2012 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on March 19th at Westerner Park.
Our Entries to 2011 Red Deer Bull Sale
APLX Ensign 2X - headlines our entries
Individual pages (short-cut links are located in the right-hand column) have been created for our three bull entries to the 2011 Red Deer Bull Sale to be held on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 1:00pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta. The 2011 edition will represent our first genetics to sell by auction, and we are pleased to be a part of this great event.
The three bulls selected represent the best of our 2010 bull calf crop. We weaned September 3rd, 2010, evaluated the calves, and then culled thoroughly. These three bulls are all solid colour, heavily pigmented, have moderate (90-100lb) birth weights, show lots of muscling, have tremendous hair coats and are backed by strong, often unique, pedigrees. The bulls have been developed on a ration of free-choice quality first cut hay combined with 10lbs/day of mixed grain, formulated to 12% protein. To ensure they are in shape for breeding season, the grain ration was increased to 12lbs/day on February 1st. The bulls are housed in a 5 acre paddock to ensure lots of exercise, they have all been at least tie-broke, and all have a quiet temperament. In short, we have raised them to be the type of bulls we would wish to buy for ourselves, and feel they will go out and get the job done.
Thanks to their sire, all three bulls are scurred and may pass the polled gene along to their offspring. In 2009 we were selected to help ‘prove’ an exciting new homozygous polled bull that was the result of 10 years of development – Dora Lee’s Equinox. We are very pleased with how his first calf crop has performed, will continue to use him extensively. Thanks to his development in Ontario, we also believe his genetics are outcross to the vast majority of Fleckvieh lines in Western Canada. These three bulls will also represent the only Equinox sons to sell publicly in 2011.
On the individual pages, we have also pictured the dams. Maternal lines are very important to us, and we feel that behind every great bull is an outstanding mother. We also have additional information and pictures available about the maternal grand dams; should it be of interest. As some people prefer paper copies, we also have individual bull profiles available in PDF format that can be e-mailed and printed, or sent by regular mail. Please let us know if you would like any additional information on any of our animals.
The 2011 Red Deer Simmental Bull Sale will be a very exciting time for us. We look forward to seeing the first Applecross genetics sell March 21 at Westerner Park.
Picture Note: The above picture of ‘Ensign’ taken in October of 2010. We really like this picture of Ensign, as it showcases his tremendous volume and heavy muscling, but wanted to use a current ‘winter’ picture in order to have consistent maturity with the other bulls in the catalogue and on his web-page.
