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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Four breed sales grossed more than $100,000 in the 20th edition of the Kentucky Beef Expo March 3-5 at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
“Kentucky breeders continue to be very successful in showing cattle that command strong prices,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Their hard work to improve their herd genetics is obviously paying off.”
Beth Wood of Young Farm in Shelby County uses shears to groom a Red Poll during the Kentucky Beef Expo. (Chris Aldridge photo) |
The four sales that exceeded $100,000 were Limousin, which boasted the highest average of $4,228 per head; Angus; Simmental, and the pen heifer sale. Cattle were sold to producers in 20 states and one Canadian province.
“We normally have two breeds hit the century mark, but we’ve never had four,” said John McDonald, beef coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Show and Fair Promotion. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Totals topped last year’s in all categories. Sales of 484½ lots grossed $895,300, an average of $1,848. That was an improvement of 12½ lots, $86,685 (10.7 percent) gross and $135 (7.9 percent) average over 2005.
The top money-earner was the grand champion Limousin bull, FWLY Big Time, which lived up to his name by selling half-interest in its $32,000 value. Top Meadows Farm of Clarksburg, Ontario, and Tubmill Creek Farm of New Florence, Penn., combined to pay $16,000 for half-interest in the bull to consignor Fawley Farms of Lynchburg, Ohio, which retained half-interest.
Express Ranch of Yukon, Okla., paid $12,000 for a Limousin heifer consigned by Deer Valley Farm of Fayetteville, Tenn.
Kentucky’s top money-earner fell just $250 short of the $10,000 mark. An Angus cow consigned by Branch View Farm of Hustonville sold for $9,750 to Logan Goggin of Danville, Ky.
Other top Kentucky seedstock included:
- the top-selling Simmental consigned by Swain Select Farm of Louisville, which sold for $6,500 to Larry Rogers of Valdosta, Ga.;the grand champion Angus bull consigned by Ann Patton Schubert of Taylorsville, which sold for $6,000 to Homewood Farms of St. Charles, Minn.;
- in the pen heifer sale, a pen of three Angus open heifers consigned by Morehead State University, which sold for $6,750 to Tom McGinnis of Shelbyville, Ky.
The Junior Heifer Show attracted 304 entries from nine states. A Shorthorn shown by Josh Greenwell of Waynesville, Ohio, won the $1,000 grand championship. The best of the 81 in-state entries were led by Kentucky grand champion exhibitor Morgan Phillips of Maysville and reserve champion exhibitor Call Carmichael of Richmond, who were awarded $500 and $300, respectively.
The Junior Steer Show had 282 entries from eight states. Jennifer Smith of Wyoming, Ill., won $1,000 for showing the grand champion crossbreed. Cody Emmons of Flemingsburg topped 48 in-state entries by winning the $500 Kentucky grand championship, and Sarah Ayers of Calhoun won the $300 reserve championship.
The judging contest, conducted by the University of Kentucky Block and Bridle Club and sponsored by Burkmann Mills, boasted 180 participants from four states.
The Beef Expo was co-sponsored by the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, Kentucky Farm Bureau, Farm Credit Services, Burkmann Mills, Nutrena, Merial, Pfizer and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
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