Show-Me-Select Heifers Have Highs And Lows
MOUNT VERNON — The 34th Show-Me-Select Breed Heifer Sale was one of the extremes on May 20 at Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage.
The top selling heifers attracted active bidding while there were also slumps when some heifers came in the ring. The overall average price on the 291 heifers was $2,236. The top price of the evening was $3,200, but the sale was sluggish for most of the first 15 lots. The low price in that period was $1,200.
After the first 15 lots had sold, the next 59 lots took off as auctioneer Jackie Moore found the bidding ative on the seats. Several bids were also received on the DV Auction computer board. It only took 86 minutes to sell the offering.
The sale included 252 Tier One heifers that averaged $2,183. Thirty-nine heifers were sired by qualifying bulls for Tier Two tags. They averaged $2,577. There were 175 heifers carrying natural service with an average price of $2,038 per head. The 116 heifers that were synchronized and bred via artificial insemination had an impressive average of $2,534.
The $496 difference was the largest spread in the history of the 24 southwest Missouri sales.
The SMS program also has a designation of ShowMe-Plus which means they were tested with a heifer genomic prediction panel. Two consignors, Shiloh Land & Cattle, Mt. Vernon and Don Hounschell, Stark City, went the extra step and completed the DNA test, and their 42 heifers had a $2688 average.
Rick Grellner, Owensville was the only consignor who offered fetal sexing on 10 of his 15 heifers. The sexing appeared to pay off as those 10 averaged $2,450 while his other five head brought an average of $1,640. These price comparisons reveal that using technology enhances the bottom line when adding value to beef heifers.
Shiloh Land & Cattle (Darrel and Anita Franson) heifers topped the sale average with 18 heifers selling for $3,028. Eugene Dilbeck, Cassville bought all of them. Other sellers that had heifers average over $2,400 were John Wheeler, Marionville; Gilmore Farm, Aurora; Hounschell and Kathy Wheeler, Marionville.
As usual, the buyer list had about 40 percent of the heifers finding a new home with other SMS heifers from previous sales. The volume buyer was Nathan Isakson, Everton, with 30 heifers averaging $2,147. Michael Scarlett, Billings purchased six head for a $3,000 average. He selected the top group of 5 heifers for $3,200 from John Wheeler.
The SMS program is guided statewide by the not-for-profit Missouri “Show-Me-Select” Replacement Heifers, Inc. Data gathering on the year-long program is supervised by University of Missouri Extension livestock specialists aided by local veterinarians.
For more information, contact any of the MU Extension livestock specialists in southwest Missouri: Eldon Cole in Lawrence County, (417) 466-3102; Andy McCorkill in Dallas County at (417) 345-7551; Dr. Randy Wiedmeier, in Howell County at (417) 256-2391; or Dr. Patrick Davis in Cedar County at (417) 276-3313.