Commercial producers buying bulls at season’s first ICA sale

BLOOMFIELD – Several commercial cattlemen selected their new herd sires at the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA) bull sale held at Bloomfield Livestock Market March 18. The sale included Angus, Simmental and Sim-Angus bulls that had been assessed through the ICA Bull Evaluation Program.

The top seller for the first sale of the season was an Angus bull, a son of ‘Sydgen Liberty GA 8627.’ This Lot 19 bull was a consignment from Bill Gay of Iowa City, and long time ICA bull test buyer, Jeff Kincart of Bloomfield, won the honors of taking this bull home for $5,000.

The top selling Simmental bull was consigned by Craig Utesch of Correctionville. Lot 41 is a son of ‘SS Goldmine L42’ bull, and delivers with a low birthweight and a time-tested pedigree. This homozygous black bull also stayed in Davis County and is now owned by Jerry Mozingo of Bloomfield.

In the Sim-Angus division, Lot 46, a son of ‘GW Lucky Ace 076TS’ was the top-seller at $2,700. He  carried a strong set of carcass traits as well as a high API (all purpose index) from the Simmental association. James Hogan of Monticello consigned this top entry and he was purchased by repeat buyer, Mike Moothart of Mount Pleasant.

A total of 30 bulls were offered for an average of $2,910. The following is a breakdown of the number of bulls by breed or type and the sale average for that category.

            Breed                         No.      Ave. Price

            Angus                        25            $3,098

            Simmental            3            $1,750

            Sim-Angus            1            $2,700

            Total                        30            $2,910

Catalogs and videos of bulls and heifers for the upcoming sale at Tama Livestock Auction in Tama (May 3) will also be added to the site in coming weeks.

“These bulls represented the top cut of our Bloomfield test bulls based on growth, carcass traits, yearling weights, disposition and scrotal circumference,” said Kellie Carolan, ICA Seedstock

Manager. “The bulls carried some of the breed’s best pedigrees for calving ease, performance and carcass merit and their test data showed it with more than 3.8 pounds per day of gain on-test.”

Buyers at ICA are also eligible for a promotional program. As bidders buy an animal, the bidder’s name is placed into a drawing for a $500 and $200 certificates that can be applied to their purchase at the sale, or to future 2013 or 2014 sales. At Tama, where both an ICA Heifer sale and the ICA bull sale will be held, one $500 certificate and two $200 certificates will be given.

The ICA Bull Evaluation Program has been in place since 1985. The goal of the program is to provide bulls that meet the program’s two basic objectives: 1) evaluate high-quality bulls in a common environment to benefit seedstock producers and; 2) identify and merchandise a select group of bulls, which excel in traits that have a high economic value.

For more information about the ICA Bull Evaluation Program or to receive a sale catalog, contact the ICA office at 515-296-2266. You may also view sale catalogs and other bull and heifer test information on the ICA website, www.iacattlemen.org.