The Kentucky

Are we making progress?

I wanted to see what kind of progress our breed is making in the last five years so I started collecting some data from the sales results listed on the AHA website. I wanted to compare what cattle were selling for in breeder bull sales in 2005 and again in 2010, then compare association consignment sales averages in the same time period. Here are the numbers:

Breeder 2005 bull sales 2010 bull sales

Van Newkirk Nebraska 77 @ 2754 151 @ 3144
Upstream Nebraska 151@ 3300 176 @ 3127
Topp North Dakota 42 @2871 90 @ 4745
Jamison Kansas 156 @ 2738 163 @3428
Colyer Idaho 98 @ 4417 92 @ 4123
Rausch South Dakota 88 @ 2911 95 @ 3005
Holden Montana 81 @ 4512 90 @ 5922
Cooper Montana 73 @ 4637 78 @ 6683
Shaw Idaho 48 @ 3078 74 @ 2409

Association Sales 2005 2010

Iowa Beef Expo 31 bulls @ 1860 19 bulls @ 2525
 16 females @ 1947 31 females @ 2039
Illinois Beef Expo 12 bulls @ 1606 4 bulls @ 3350
 24 females @ 2399 28 females @ 2227
Kentucky Beef Expo 5 bulls @ 1590 6 bulls @ 2125
 21 females @ 1573 25 females @ 1698
Wisconsin Association 16 bulls @ 1923 17 bulls @ 2003
 26 females @ 1356 21 females @ 1698
Illinois Horned Association 3 bulls @ 3267 No Bulls
 26 females @ 1948 25 females @ 1953
West Virginia Beef Expo 5 bulls @ 2050 7 bulls @ 1829
 20 females @ 1239 36 females @ 1212

What conclusions can one take from this information? Are we making
progress in the last five years?

 *Hereford bull demand from breeders with a strong breeding program is up
 sharply.
 *A marketing and advertising program increases the value of Hereford

 Genetics.
 *Association sales continue to be a steady market outlet, and provide a
 great service for their membership.
 *Yes, progress is being made. Maybe not as fast as we all would like,
 however moving forward is a lot better than the alternative.