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Just as sure as the
Moser Ranch sale day draws near, the weather seems to get a bit
cooler and there’s snow in the air. No different again in 2006, as
Harry and Lisa Moser and family held their 14th annual production
sale on Saturday, February 11th, the coldest weekend so far in the
New Year. The chilly temps and north wind didn’t seem to affect the
buyers, as the Holton Livestock Exchange again hosted the
standing-room only crowd present to appraise the Simmental, Angus,
Red Angus and SimAngus genetics. The Moser family’s focus in the
beef business is the efficient production of a quality beef product
and they utilize every tool available to reach goals set for their
operation. When times are good, it’s fun for everyone to be in the
seedstock business. When the industry faces challenging times, true seedstock leaders will have the genetics available for their
customers (with the science to back them up) that will make a
difference in all phases-from calving ease and maternal traits to
fast growth, efficient gain and desirable carcass traits to finally,
a delicious eating experience. Scientifically based choices and
gathering meaningful data on harvested cattle sets this operation
apart from most seedstock entities.
After a moment of
silence to honor Old Glory and the troops serving our country, the
auction took off at a brisk pace and was completed in just under
three hours. 124 bulls and 110 commercial females went through the
ring. Every bull in the offering had tested negative for PI BVD,
another guarantee the Moser Ranch feels is important for their
customers.
High-selling honors
in the bull division went to Lot 5506R, a purebred yearling
Simmental sired by Gambler and out of a Power Drive x Redcoat
female. This six frame homozygous black calf, described by many as
“having no holes on paper or on phenotype” went to Nelson Livestock
Company, Wibaux, MT, on a final bid of $7000. Lot 5552R, a Fortune
500 x Arapahoe x Redcoat bull sold to repeat customers Bob and Greg
Curl, Lebanon, MO, for $5900. This thick made, solid red non-dilute
calf had a 747# Adj.WW, a 14.3 sq.in. ribeye, and an IMF score of
3.58. A solid black full brother to Lot 5552R, the Lot 5548R bull,
sold for $5000 to longtime customer AK Farms, Inc., Holton, KS. AK
Farms first purchased bulls from the Moser Ranch in the operation’s
first-ever sale in February 1993, and they have used Moser bulls
exclusively since that time.
Declared “sold” by
auctioneer Dan Harris at the $5700 price tag was Lot 4750P, a 1710#
fallborn purebred Simmental bull. With an Adj.WW of 886#, and
Adj.YW of 1395#, a 15.5 sq.in. ribeye and a 4.4#/day test gain, this
homozygous polled, non-dilute Red Quorum x Arapahoe x Redcoat x
Pollfleck calf had many admirers at the ranch and on sale day. He
will make his new home near Fargo, ND, right on the North
Dakota/Minnesota border in the purebred operations of Johnson
Simmentals and Bichler Simmentals. Six full brothers in this
flush-all solid red bulls born in September 2004-averaged $3400+ per
head, with the other five brothers all going to repeat customers.
This set of calves has a birth to yearling EPD spread of 1 to 70.
Lot 5597R, described by
Moser herdsman Todd Strahm as “just cool”, also had many lookers-at
the Topeka Farm Show back in January, at the ranch, and on sale
day. Hanel’s Black Simmentals-Lannie and Brock Hanel, Courtland,
KS, paid $5600 to own the attractive Power Drive x Full Figures x
Arapahoe yearling. A February 2005 baby, this homozygous black and
polled calf had an 18.8 sq.in. ribeye and a 781# Adj.WW. Hanel’s
had purchased females in the Moser Spring Simmental Dispersion in
September 2005.
A snappy, thick made
purebred Simmental yearling, Lot 5563R, sold for $5400 to Louis
Hargrave and Son, Randolph, KS. A Preferred Beef son, this
homozygous black calf packed a 16 sq.in. ribeye in a striking
phenotype.
High sellers in the
other breeds offered were as follows: Percentage Bulls-Amon
Livestock, Netawaka, KS, longtime Moser bull customer, purchased the
Lot 4210P fallborn SimAngus bull for $4300. This 6I6 x Lucky Break
bull gained 4.8#/day on the 111 day test and had a birth to yearling
EPD spread of –3 to 75. Repeat customer Richard Schoen, Lucas, KS,
took home the Lot 4201P fallborn SimAngus bull for $4200. Another
6I6 x Lucky Break son, this calf had a birth to yearling EPD spread
very similar to the 4210P bull. The top selling Angus bull went to
repeat customer Double “B” Ranch, Centralia, KS. The
mother/daughter team of Betty Bonjour and Jessica Figge who own and
operate the Double “B” Ranch paid $3600 to own the stout New Design
878 son. A Cherokee Canyon son, Lot 805, garnered top sales honors
in the Red Angus division. Repeat customer Mike Stauffer, Holton,
KS, paid $3350 to purchase the stylish yearling that had a 14.5
sq.in. ribeye and an IMF score of 3.64.
The female portion of
the auction was very exciting, with repeat customers on the
seats purchasing both breds and opens by the ring full. Repeat bred
heifer buyers Norm and Dean Brackenbury, Wamego and Onaga, KS, took
home 29 of the fall bred heifers-14 at $1500/head and 15 at
$1550/head. Also returning this year to buy bred females were Keith
and Carol Noe, Lecompton, KS, who purchased 9 breds at $1650/head.
Wayne Atkins, Oregon, MO, bought 5 breds at the $1650 price.
Fifty-six head of fall bred heifers averaged $1556/head. Fifty-four
head of commercial open heifers consigned by Moser Ranch bull
customers averaged $1050/head. A draft of 20 solid black heifers
weighing 861# were brought to town by Dennis and Cheryl Zumbrunn,
Chapman, KS. They sold for $1100/head and went to a repeat buyer of
Zumbrunn genetics, Nathan Perry, Oskaloosa, KS. These fancy heifers
had tested negative for PI BVD and were carrying EID’s.
Volume buyers
taking home four bulls were Donald Zahnd, MO; Mathews Farms, NV;
Smith Farms, NE, and Abitz Land & Cattle, KS. Buyers taking home
three bulls were Rob Wareham, KS; Bar 3 Ranch-Leo, Tony & Allan
Brokes, KS; Double “B” Ranch, KS; and Sue Eden, OK.
Sale averages were as
follows: 75 Simmental bulls-$2885; 30 SimAngus
bulls-$2911; 5 Red Angus bulls-$2870; and 14 Angus bulls-$2821.
71% of the bulls went to repeat customers. 159 buyers
registered on sale day, and cattle sold into ten states including
Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota,
Tennessee, Nevada, Montana and West Virginia. The Moser Ranch
will host their 15th Annual Production Sale on Saturday, November
25, 2006, at the ranch just north of Wheaton, Kansas. Bulls
and females will be offered.
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