The city of Williams Lake and B.C. Livestock Co-op, Williams Lake played host to the first ever Pacific Invitational All-Breeds Female Sale (cattle) on Oct. 1 at noon.
The sale day was preceded by a banquet and silent auction held at the Overlander Hotel on Friday evening, Sept. 30.
So if you were wondering about the influx of cowboy-hat-bearing visitors in hotels, shops and restaurants this past weekend, the all-breeds sale was likely the explanation for all the extra hats, as many breeders and buyers converged on the Lakecity for the special sale.
The invitational sale was organized by the breeders (a committee) themselves with the aid of the B.C. Livestock Co-op staff (and auctioneers) and it appeared that everything went very smoothly for a first-time event.
The invited breeders could contribute a heifer calf or bred heifer (or cow, up to four years in age) and 30 different breeders — from all parts of B.C. — accepted the invitation to participate. The breeds represented in the inaugural sale were Black and Red Angus, Hereford, Gelbvieh, Limousin, Shorthorn and Simmental. They came from Houston, Fort St. James, Quesnel, Prince George and Vanderhoof in the north; from 100 Mile House, Forest Grove, Buffalo Creek, Monte Lake, Pritchard, Westbridge, Armstrong, Abbotsford, Aldergrove, Vancouver and Courtney in the south. As well, there were four local purebred operations taking part: Schochaneetqua Angus (Big Lake), Dane Ranch (Tatla Lake), Sharden Polled Herefords (Williams Lake) and Miocene Simmentals (150 Mile House).
A special sale feature were three steer calves — prospect club-calves for showing (4-H, etc.) — offered by the Cutting Edge Cattle Company of Buffalo Creek (Wayne and Tiffany Pincott), which sold well, averaging more than $1,200 per calf.
The invitational heifer calf/bred heifer/cow sale average was $1,883 per head, a number which pleased Pacific Invitational Show chairman Jack Brown.
Reached this morning by telephone (in a B.C. campsite where he had to climb a hill for reception) Jack Brown said, “Although you can’t see my face, trust me — I’m still smiling. I think we had a really good first-sale. The show-committee put in a lot of effort, working very well with one another and the B.C. Livestock staff contributed greatly and meshed well with the show-committee. It was a quality sale and the public and industry support was good. We certainly plan to return next year.”