Our 2021 Fleckvieh Equation Sales Report
December 19th was another great day to wrap up 2021’s ‘Alberta Simmental Week-end’ with Transcon’s Fleckvieh Equation and Red and Black, 2 in 1 Sale Extravaganza at the Innisfail Auction Mart. Despite the onset of ‘full winter’ impacting travel earlier in the week, temperatures moderated for sale day to allow for steady traffic through the legendary Innisfail Auction Mart cattle facility. In what was the last ‘live’ Simmental sale in Alberta of 2021, astute cattlemen had the opportunity to have a hot lunch, visit with consignors, and inspect a high quality group of open and bred females, and a few herd sire prospects, before watching them pose for viewers in the sales ring.
In what is sure to become a sale tradition, consignors Skywest Farms led off the sale with Lot 103, one of several impressive Kuntz Duramax daughters that they had on offer. ‘Skywest Hope’ sold for $22,500 to Lockhart Valley Simmentals / Lee & Tina Robson of Rimbey, AB. A few lots later, the sales order turned to open heifers and. after some spirited bidding, Lot 119, BLL Lady Jane 53H ended up the top open heifer at $15,000 as Gail Gerein of Unity SK was the successful new owner. On the purebred side, the high seller was Lot 4, ‘City View Hawaii 37H’ a really impressive SVS Tycoon Daughter, who was selected by Circle 7 Simmentals of Shaunavon, Sk.
It was a really awesome day for Applecross Cattle, as we were really happy with the condition and shape our heifers were in sale day. We had a tremendous number of inquiries leading up to the sale, and were humbled by the number of compliments we received on our program. Our lead two polled heifers were selected to be the 3rd and 4th heifers in the ring, and both went to first time customers. After being selected by Mike McCart / Alliance Simmentals, for $6,400, Lot 117 ‘Applecross Liesel’ is Ontario bound. Lot 116 ‘Applecross Paris’ is staying right close to home here in Central AB, after being acquired by OH Kay Farms / the Lougheed’s of Red Deer for $5,000. And finally, a little later in the sale, Lot 114 ‘Applecross Olivia’ was selected by Jayme Hunter of Caroline, AB. and lot 115 ‘Applecross Carly’ by Justin Wagner of Leslieville, AB. It was great to see four new customers acquire Applecross genetics, and we are excited to see what our females can do for their new owners.
We were also successful in making two acquisitions during the sale. Our eyes were certainly drawn to Lot 118 ‘BLL Hocus 51H’, and with both ‘Sibelle Sugar Ray 25F’ and ‘Brinks Bullet Proof’ being outcross to our herd, we jumped at the opportunity to add this promising female to round out our open heifer group. We were also able to add Lot 105 ‘Skywest Harmony’. We have been very impressed with the Duramax progeny, and were quite interested in the Twenty X bull when he sold at Anchor D back in 2011, so it was pretty cool to add this larger framed female to our walking herd. We are always on the look out for new or different genetics that can add different dimensions to our herd, and we believe we have been able to accomplish that goal again in 2021!
Once again we need to recognize the team at Transcon for doing a tremendous job working the phones and managing the sale. Jay Good and his team are always a quality sales management group – constantly on the phone while inspecting cattle for prospective buyers. Since interest and bids don’t always result in a purchase, you can’t always see their work – but that certainly wasn’t the case for Equation 2021. Between the onset of winter weather and the continued impact of Covid, fewer people are able to attend the sale. Having a professional, reputable sales team inspect animals and provide advice on behalf of potential bidders and buyers is simply irreplaceable .
With the heifers sale a now behind us, we are full into calving. With some new AI options and the first Black Gold Battleborn 44H calves set to arrive, it is an incredibly exciting time of year. Being a purebred cattle breeder is always a journey – and there are so many ways that we can still work to improve both our herd and sale offerings. Yes, our trend of offering more polled genetics will continue, but we certainly won’t be successful if we single-trait select – so we will continue to keep an eye on feet, thickness, udders and temperament – while also continuing to mix back in different horned genetics to continue to diversify our genetic base. We are really excited about both our open heifer group, and the yearling bulls that are only days away from being clipped up for bull sale pictures. We are truly fortunate (and very blessed) to own and operate Applecross Cattle where we can continue in our quest to provide new, better, and different genetics to share with the industry.
Applecross Cattle 