Buyers Turn Out for North Alabama Bull and Heifer Sale

    Auburn, Dec 18, 2003--Buyers from across Alabama and throughout the South turned out for the st31 Annual North Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association Bull Evaluation and Select Heifer Sale Dec. 13 at the Cullman Stockyards.

    “Producers bought some excellent bulls that will improve their herd’s overall genetics,” said Michelle Elmore, a beef cattle specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Elmore manages the daily operations of the Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association.

She said the sale grossed more than $140,000.

    Damion McLemore of McLemore Farms in Danville bought the highest selling bull, an Angus consigned by Bruce Randall of Lawler Farm in Opelika. The bull sold for $4,600.

    The average price for the 43 Angus sold was $2,055; the average price for the 17 Charolais was $1,645. Two Gelbvieh bulls sold for $2,500 each. Three Simmental bulls averaged $1,575. One composite bull, a Simmental-Angus cross, brought $1,750.

The 23 open heifers sold for an average of $742.

    The sale’s volume buyer was Herman Walker, owner of Walker Farms in DeFuniak Springs, Fla. Walker bought seven Angus bulls.

    All bulls offered were fed and managed at the North Alabama Bull Evaluation Center at Donaldson Farms in Cullman. The North Alabama Bull Evaluation is a program of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

    Consignors who produced the top bulls from each breed were presented with awards at the beginning of the sale. The awards are based on performance data collected during the evaluation. Banks Herndon of Homestead Farm in Opelika bred the top Angus bull. Tim Mims of T&B Charolais in Clanton consigned the top Charolais bull. Gary Thornton of Gooseponds Farm in Fayetteville, Tenn., produced the top Gelbvieh bull. William Mayfield of Triple “M” Farms in Brent

    consigned the top Simmental, and Fred Beck of Circle B Farm in Northport bred the top composite bull.