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The
date and location might have been new, but the old excitement
for Moser Ranch beef genetics filled the air as cattlemen from
near and far gathered at the Ranch for the 15th annual
production sale. It was a pleasant fall day, which made for
easy viewing of the Moser offering of 85 Simmental, SimAngus,
Angus and Red Angus bulls and the 200+ head of females, sixty of
which were consigned by Moser Ranch customers. The previous
sales, held in February, have been plagued by wintry weather in
the past five years, making the experience of inspecting the
cattle more challenging. That was not a problem at the ranch
sale, as the bulls were presented in large lot pens and nibbled
on loose prairie hay while prospective buyers sorted through the
cattle and the numbers.
Following a morning of coffee and donuts provided by Frontier
Farm Credit and a Moser Ranch complementary lunch, activities
started promptly at noon, with Dan Harris serving as auctioneer
for the 15th consecutive Moser sale. It was standing
room only in the barn as the auction got underway. Harry and
Lisa thanked the crowd for making the trip to their ranch and
appraising their livestock. Following a moment of silence for
Old Glory and our troops and then introductions of family, the
first females entered the ring. Eight commercial fall pairs got
the sale off to a brisk start averaging $1763/pair. With
pedigrees grounded thirteen years deep in Fink breeding,
thirteen spring bred Angus cows averaged $1340. Lot 181, a GAR
Example 3204 x WW Rito 8503 daughter sold for $1700 to Curt
Hermann, Mayetta, KS. AI’d safe to Morgan’s Direction, this
five-year-old cow posted a 108 Weaning Ratio on 3 Angus calves.
Five of the Angus cows are headed to Florida, two sold into
Missouri, with the balance remaining in Kansas.
The
Red Angus females were very well accepted by the crowd, as the
nine spring bred cows averaged $1544. John Eagan, Topeka, KS,
and Steve Grandstaff, Lecompton, KS, paid $1800 each to own lots
382 and 612 respectively. Both four-year-old females, Lot 382
was a Glacier Chateau and Lot 612 a Buf Crk Chf 824-1658
daughter. The six Simmental females found homes in Nebraska,
Florida and Kansas, averaging $1530/head, and all sold to repeat
customers. Larry Mach, Weston, NE, purchased the high selling
Lot 5045R bred heifer for $1800.
The
balance of the commercial females sold as follows: 55
commercial spring bred females averaged $1150/head, with the
high selling draft bringing $1350. Double B Ranch, Centralia,
KS, consigned them, and they were purchased by Delbert & Barb
McCall, Holiday, MO. 65 commercial fall heifers averaged
$1240/head. Two top selling drafts sold for $1275, and repeat
customers Todd & Sally Olson, Olsburg, and Victor Olson, Olsburg,
KS purchased them. These 65 heifers will stay at the Moser
Ranch and will be bred to start calving September 1, 2007.
Buyers will pick them up at the Moser Ranch on February 1,
2007. Nathan Perry, Oskaloosa, KS, was the volume buyer of the
Moser Ranch fall heifers, purchasing 25 head. 45 head of
customer-consigned spring open heifer calves averaged $726.
Loyal Moser Ranch bull customers since 1998, Dennis & Cheryl
Zumbrunn, Chapman, KS, again consigned the high sellers in the
heifer calf division, bringing 21 fancy black ½ Sim x ½ Angus
heifers to the auction. Nathan Perry, Oskaloosa, KS, has
purchased some or all of the Zumbrunn females at every sale, and
this year he paid $800/head to own the first draft of five
heifers. Charlie Dixon, Paola, KS, was a volume buyer of the
spring open heifers, taking home 21 head.
The
bull auction action lasted only a few minutes over an hour, as
folks had made their decisions out in the pens and were eager to
lay claim to the bulls they had selected. High selling honors
in the bull division went to the Lot 1 bull, a September 20,
2005 ET son of GAR Retail Product and the Moser Ranch 2061M
Power Drive x Redcoat donor. This ½ Angus x ½ Simmental fall
calf was homozygous black and homozygous polled, and had a
ribeye area of 14.3 sq. inches and a Marbling EPD of 0.18. The
2061M donor has given 46 embryos in the three times she has been
collected at the Moser Ranch. Repeat customers Dan Schullian,
Quincy, IL, and Ed Livingston, Mahaska, KS, vied for the
ownership rights of the Lots 1 & 2 bulls, which were full
brothers. When the bidding stopped, the Lot 1 bull went to
Illinois with a price tag of $4800, and the Lot 2 calf stayed in
Kansas for the sum of $3500. The cow family behind these two
bulls and the Lots 31-35 bulls (also full brothers to Lots 1 and
2) began in the Moser herd in 1982, and it has proven itself
time and time again in the Moser program, which makes
scientifically based choices and gathers meaningful data on
harvested cattle to focus on the efficient production of a high
quality, consistent beef product. Four other full brothers in
this ½ Angus x ½ Simmental flush sold to repeat customers and
the fifth sold to a new customer.
Noted
for their calving ease and high marbling scores, another popular
set of flush brothers were the Lots 16-23 purebred Simmental
bulls, sired by Twister and out of the Moser donor 251M, a Lucky
Break x Bold Future x 600U female. High seller in this flush
went to repeat customer Ken Ellerbrock, Ursa, IL, for $4200.
Six of the eight bulls in this flush went to repeat customers.
Other
sale highlights include Lot 51, a Futureprototype son out of MSR
3400N, a GAR Example x Full Figures female. This ½ Simmental x
½ Angus bull ranked 3rd out of all the natural calves
at the Moser Ranch at weaning time last April. Repeat customer
Bill Amer, Holton, KS, paid $4250 to own Lot 51. Lot 6, another
GAR Retail Product sired half-blood out of the strong,
time-tested Moser donor 152C, sold into Florida on a bid of
$3900 from repeat customer Allen Childs. The Lot 57 Angus bull,
a Traveler 004 son out of a 6I6 x Rockn D Ambush female, sold to
repeat customer Nathan Perry, Oskaloosa, KS, for $3000. Six ¾
Angus x ¼ Simmental bulls were crowd favorites on sale day,
averaging $3000/head. Four of the ¾ x ¼ bulls went to repeat
customers, three of which were purchased over the phone by
repeat customers.
All
cattle in the entire offering had been tested and found to be
negative for BVD PI. Sale Averages are as follows: 23 Purebred
Simmental Bulls $2600; Forty-three 1/2 Sim x 1/2 Ang
Bulls $2658; Six 3/4 Ang x 1/4 Sim Bulls $3000; Five Angus
Bulls $2200; 1 Red Angus Bull $1800. 78 bulls averaged $2616.
Volume
buyers for the day included Allen Childs, Grand Rapids, FL,
taking home five females and five bulls; AK Farms, Holton, KS,
eight females and one bull; Ed Livingston, Mahaska, KS, and John
West, Centerville, TN, three bulls each.
At their first production sale to be held on the ranch, the
Moser family welcomed a crowd of nearly 300 people to their
headquarters just north of Wheaton, Kansas. 129 bidders and
buyers from Kansas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri, North Dakota,
Nebraska and Tennessee helped make the afternoon sale a brisk
event, as it was completed in just 3 hours. 88% of the bulls
went to repeat buyers, and cattle sold in to all seven states
represented. With the February and November bull sales in 2006,
the Moser Ranch has marketed 202 bulls at auction for an average
of $2790/head. |
