Calhoun bull test sale celebrates 50 years of cattle industry improvement Dec. 6
An area livestock sale designed to up industry standards will celebrate half a century this year. Once again, quality tested bulls will sell at auction on a per head basis at the bull test sale, which will be Friday, Dec. 6, at the Northwest Georgia Livestock Pavillion on Highway 53 Spur in Calhoun.
Once the purchased bulls enter local herds, the result should be higher quality offspring.
“Commercial producers in the area (who purchase these bulls) can produce better calves,” according to Jason Duggin, a locally based University of Georgia Cooperative Extension beef specialist.
The 50th Annual Georgia Bull Test Sale, Duggin said, is a joint effort between the Georgia Cattleman’s Association and UGA designed to help improve the quality of beef cattle in Georgia and to educate consigners and buyers about best management practices.
How it works
Producers across Georgia, along with a few in Tennessee and Alabama, nominate the bulls, which receive feed during a warmup period in
July. The 112-day testing period begins, and bulls are measured for daily weight gain and weight per day of age (weight divided by a bull’s age in days). An ultrasound scans the bulls for yield grade (muscle versus fat and bone) and carcass merit, which Duggin says is a combination of qualities like potential meat flavor and tenderness.
During the testing period, the bulls live at the Northwest Georgia Research and Education Center, which is in the Shannon area. Although about 75 bulls will go through the auction this year there are typically around 40 consignors, Duggin said. Some consignors submit multiple animals.
Bulls sell at the auction on a per-head basis, and a good breeding animal can bring up to $4,000, he said. Breed and overall winners get recognition at the sale.
Beef cattle is still big
business in Gordon and Floyd counties. According to an article earlier this year in the Rome News-Tribune, Floyd is the No. 7 county in the state for that corner of the industry, producing more than $8 million in beef cattle in 2016. Gordon County came in 12th the same year, producing more than $6 million in beef cattle.
Duggin has worked as a beef cattle specialist with the UGA Extension Service for six years, and he brings with him a bachelor’s degree in livestock production and a master’s degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University. Along with the Georgia Heifer Evaluation and Reproductive Development program, the bull test sale is a key Extension effort for agriculture in this corner of the state, he says.
“This is kind of a unique thing for Northwest Georgia. We don’t have another outlet like that, particularly for beef cattle,” Duggin said.