Bull test sales up despite softer market

The top-seller at the Tucumcari Bull Test sale on Friday was Charolais 7-1 from Grau Charolais Cattle of Grady. The bull sold for $4,000, said sale organizer Manny Encinias.

The buyer was a producer from North Dakota, said Encinias, who is a beef cattle nutritionist for the New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Service at the Clayton Livestock research center.

The average price of bulls was $2,181, and for heifers the average was $1,044, based on the unofficial sale results, said Encinias.

Other high sellers were:
l Two Angus bulls, which each sold for $3,200, 14-2 of Hartzog Angus Cattle of Farwell, Texas, and 10-1, of J-C Angus of Moriarity.
l A Maine-Anjou, 22-2, sold for $2,700 from the Vagabond Cattle Co. of Roswell.

“We sold twice as many head as we did last year,” Encinias said. In all, 133 head of bulls and heifers were sold.
“I think there were a lot of compliments on how well the bulls looked,” he said.

This year’s performance test emphasized more forage in the feed ration. Thus, the bulls in the ring were leaner and more ready to go to work, Encinias said.

“Our sales were up and it is a softer market than it was last year,” Encinias said.