‘Super Saturday’ / 2023 Fleckvieh Equation Sale Report & Other Year End Thoughts
A gorgeous mid-December day with mild temperatures and sunny skies created ideal weather for Transcon’s ‘Super Saturday’ on Saturday, December 16th. This ‘Three in One’ Female Event featured our traditional Red & Black and Fleckvieh Equation portions and was joined by ‘White Gold Charolais’ to round out the day. All told, there were an impressive 90 lots to sell, which averaged a robust $8,745.
In what seemingly has become a (well deserved) tradition, Beechinor Land & Livestock (Stefon & Rebecca Beechinor) once again led off the sale. Their lot 59 BLL Gabri 201J heifer was a true standout, combining impressive muscling and capacity with a highly regarded pedigree. She created a massive amount of interest. When the gavel fell, it was Johnson Ranching of Amisk, AB who got to take her home for an impressive $37,000! Certainly, one of the highlights of the fall sale season! Following ‘Gabri’ into the ring was a pair of outstanding breds from the Keato Meadows program. As mentioned in our bull sale report, Jonathon & Ebony Kittlitz of Keato Meadows have developed a clear vision of what they are building their program around – and they just might have presented the most consistent string of the day. Their two lead lots, Lot 76 ‘Sunniva’ and Lot 75 ‘Kitty Wells’, both represented dark red, polled packages that were outcross to most polled programs. Both received very enthusiastic attention and included ‘Sunniva’ selling to JEM Simmentals at Barrhead for $21,000. What a terrific way to kick off the sale.
Our own Lot 67, Applecross Deirdre, was the fourth animal in the ring. After some spirited bidding, she was selected by Jeff Knox of Knox Farms, Australia, for $15,000! As live animals are not exported to Australia, Deirdre will be calved out here at Applecross before entering a flush program. Her Homozygous polled status will lead to some intriguing mating opportunities, as Jeff looks to add some diverse Canadian genetics to his cow herd. As a related note, back in 2013 – exactly 10 years ago – Jeff also selected a heifer from Dora Lee (my parent’s operation), so it was great to visit with Jeff a few times in the lead up to the sale, as we certainly knew some genetics in common. We look forward to seeing Applecross genetics work on another continent, and maybe (someday) we will get to visit ‘Oz’ and see some descendants in action!
Overall, our nine heifers on offer all found great homes. Deidre’s genetics were not the only ones who get to travel some distance! Our lead open heifer, lot 64 ‘Applecross Veronica’, is headed to (Sweet Home) Alabama, after being selected by Old Magnolia Farm / Brad Ballew. Lot 69, ‘Applecross Abigail’, has also headed Stateside after being selected by Jensen Simmentals / Steve Jensen of Osawatomie, Kansas. Safe travels ladies! Our remaining six heifers are all staying here in Alberta. Lot 65, ‘Applecross Delaney’, was selected by Rolling JN Farms / Jack & Shirley Nielson, of Alix; Lot 66, ‘Applecross Bonita’, will make her home with Lone Stone / Lonnie & Karen Brown at Westlock; Lot 68, ‘Applecross Dolly’, found her way south to MAVV Farms / Mike Imler at Okotoks; Lot 70, ‘Applecross Della’, was acquired by Richlan Farms / Karrie & Richard Jones at Breton; Lot 71, ‘Applecross Cassidy’ found a great place at Skylark Cattle Company / Emilee Oro at Clive, where she will continue to get lots of scratches. And finally, our lot 73 heifer, ‘Applecross Serena’, was selected by 777 Cattle Ltd / Tyler Steward at Stettler! Wow, what a list; what a day!
Overall, the Fleckvieh Equation heifers were incredibly consistent, considering the number of programs represented in the consignment sale. The cattle were all in very similar condition, and presented well, which was reflected in sale averages in each program! Of the six larger strings that made up the bulk of the Fleckvieh cattle on offer, all six had at least one animal sell for at least $10,000+. Impressive! It was great to see so much success and so many smiles after the sale!
In addition to the above noted high-sellers, I thought we would share some additional thoughts on the 2023 Edition of Super Saturday:
- The biggest change to the sale format was the addition of Charolais heifers to the traditional blend of Flecks and Reds/Blacks. While the new ‘colour’ sure stood out (and frankly I will stick to washing Flecks vs the full white of Chars – which must be a lot of fun!), it was great to have both a ‘full barn’ and ‘full stands’ at sale time! Several Simmental breeders have recently diversified into including Charolais in their programs, so they were also a natural complement to our Simmental offerings.
- The other material change was the move to a Saturday sale, from it’s traditional Sunday. I mentioned in last year’s sale’s report that I thought the Sunday sale made for a very long weekend, specifically for those involved in FNL. It is just such a tough time of year to spend extended periods away from the farm, so I think the Saturday sale made the weekend flow a lot smoother. From our end it was also great to have Sunday to ‘recover’ prior to starting the workweek on Monday!
- The only downside to the Saturday sale was the elimination of the opportunity for ‘night before’ hospitality. With most people in Olds for FNL, the barn was certainly quiet in Red Deer on Friday night. While both pre-sale and post-sale hospitality are great; it just doesn’t ‘feel’ the same as the night before. Sale day typically has more stressors: trying to prep and market cattle pre-sale, followed by trying to get organized with where the cattle are going post-sale. The ability to just relax and ‘visit’; hear opinions; discuss genetics; life and family is missing. But at the end of the day, there isn’t a rule that states that the sales barn is where those discussions need to take place; maybe we just need to organize more social opportunities of our own. We are fortunate here in Central Alberta to be surrounded by plenty of great Simmental Breeders. Maybe it is as simple as leveraging more of those ordinary everyday occurrences (like birthdays!) as a great excuse to get together and talk cattle!
- One of the great things about Jay Good and the Transcon team, is their willingness to spend time with younger/newer breeders and invite them to join auctions such as Equation. As a consignment sale made up of a number of smaller breeders, it seems to be the perfect place to showcase newer programs, or even as an entry point for those that have never marketed females before. It can be intense and nerve-wracking to bring your first ever females to town, so (what is hopefully perceived as) the welcoming environment of Equation is an opportunity to bring your best and learn from others! It was 10 years ago that we made our Equation debut, and we have certainly learned a lot from our fellow consignors – everything from pre-sale prep, to tidying the stalls, signage and an area for ‘hospitality’ are all things that may now seem second nature but were things we learned along the way (and we’re still learning). It is simply great to see new breeders join in the sale!
- On that note – there were quite a number of successful first appearances at Equation. All four of Century Simmentals, Richlan Farms, Wagner’s Cattle Co and Mountain Ash Simmentals had (in our opinion) smashing debuts! It was great to see their enthusiasm in the barn!
- I also thought the sales order set people up for success as well. The sale was broken down into multiple sections and alternated between Flecks-Purebreds-Charolais, and breds and opens. For us larger consignors, that meant we had animals sprinkled throughout the sale, giving everyone the chance to have animals at the start and animals near the end. It seemed like a great way to have everyone share in the success of the sale and, with animal condition being so consistent across the barn, allowed groups to flow together seamlessly.
- The continued importance of ‘online’ was also underscored. With Covid several years in the past, and cooperative weather and a full house in Red Deer, I was somewhat surprised that a total of $102,000 (and two of our nine) were sold online. I had thought that people might return to in person (or traditional phone) bidding, but instead maybe Covid simply accelerated a trend. Bidding online utilizing Transcon Online (or DLMS) has truly become a core part of sale day, as the ability to connect with more bidders is clearly essential to maximizing the success of our sales.
- In reflecting on our own sale string, this was the second year in a row we brought open heifers in addition to our usual bred heifers. We were certainly more than happy with our results again in 2023, but did note the overall decrease in open heifers on offer this year. I think the challenge with open heifers remains two-fold. First, for those of us with smaller herds, even marketing two or three opens leave a sizeable hole in next years bred heifer string. Second, I also think calves have the risk of being ‘off’ on sale day – whether showing heat or going through a recent ‘growth spurt’ that means they just aren’t looking at the top of their game – challenges you just don’t have with bred heifers, who are heavy in calf and looking just about ready to pop! Those bred heifers simply must drink, whereas an open heifer can choose not to enjoy city water for three days! There are also some great reasons for bringing opens as well – open heifers can match up with a variety of calving programs; and, from a geographic perspective, there is certainly less risk in having an open heifer get on a truck for an extended journey vs a bred heifer who is due to calve in three weeks! So, as we weigh pros and cons, I think a large part of it will come down to this year’s calf crop – lots of heifers will probably mean more heifer calves at Equation 2024, while a run of bulls may make us pause for next year at least!
- As I have mentioned before, we always try to budget to add at least one outcross female to our herd each fall. This year, we managed to snag the lead lot at MAVV Farms on Thursday, while taking a break from the wash rack in Red Deer. Lot 1 ‘MAVV Jaci 205J’ represents a little different pedigree for us and is backed by a very strong cow family. Mike Imler has been investing in quality fleck genetics for several decades now, so we were happy to be able to add his prefix to our walking herd. We feel Jaci has a great future in front of her, and we look forward to a mid-January calf!
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. Jay, Darren, Glen and Cody spent the weekend inspecting the cattle while consistently talking on their phones, making evaluations for prospective buyers. In addition to the $102,000 in Transcon Online sales, an additional $94,500 was sold on order, which totaled 25% of the sale gross! Thank-you Team Transcon, for another awesome Equation!
It was another great day to present Applecross cattle at auction, and we are honoured by the compliments we received on our cattle from all the bidders and buyers that took interest in our program. With the first calves of the new calving season on the ground (and the first progeny from our two exciting new walking bulls on the way!), we look forward to the balance of calving season, and another step in that ongoing effort to produce high-quality genetics that we can share with the industry.
Applecross Cattle 