Rising cattle prices were reflected at this year’s 74th annual Williams Lake Bull Show and Sale held Thursday and Friday.
An example, the highest selling bull — a Hereford — from Deanfield Ranch in Kamloops went for $7,100.
The grand champion Angus bull sold for $5,300; the reserve grand champion bull for $5,000.
The Hereford grand champion bull sold for $4,500 and the reserve grand champion for $3,400.
Bruce Rolph, chairman of the bull sale committee, said it sometimes happens that the champion or reserve animals — as chosen by the event’s judge — do not earn the highest price come auction day.
“It’s the judge’s opinion on the bulls he’s picking and often the producers come in here and they have a specific bull, or blood line, or type they are looking for and that’s the bull they want,” he said.
The 130 bulls entered in the show by 47 producers sold on average for $3,080. That compares favourably to the last number of years when bulls sold for approximately $2,500.
“It was a really strong sale for us,” Rolph said.
“The market has picked up this past year and the bulls definitely reflected it.”
As chosen by judge Wayne Pincott, the grand champion Angus bull was owned by Todd Marchant and Pam McGuinness, the reserve grand champion was also owned by Todd Marchant and Pam McGuinness. The grand champion Hereford was owned by Little Fort Herefords and the reserve also by Little Fort Herefords.
The show, said Rolph, is important for producers.
“It’s the largest all-breed bull sale in B.C. Really it’s the last bull sale in the province so if people don’t have bulls by now Williams Lake is where people come to get their bulls,” he said. “The quality is here and I think that’s why we have as strong a market as we do and we have the people who come from province wide as much as they do.”