Don’t go tell anyone, but this Christmas Eve, the county agent will be turning 43 years old. I guess you can say time flies when you are having fun. I recently realized that I was born around the same time of the first Calhoun Bull Test Evaluation. For over four decades this bull evaluation and resulting sale has been a quality source for cattle producers looking for herd sires. Today, I will share information on the bull evaluation and information on the Friday, December 7th sale.

To start, the sale on December 7 will be a conclusion of a process that began with consigned bulls being delivered to the UGA Floyd County Farm on July 2-3, 2012. There are several goals to the performance evaluation.

First, the evaluation is to record differences in ability of bulls to gain in a uniform environment. Next, another goal is to provide breeders with a sound scientific basis for selecting bulls with ability to gain weight rapidly and to make bulls available to cattlemen. The final goal of the Calhoun Bull Test is to serve as an educational demonstration of the value of records of performance.

Consigned bulls for the Calhoun Bull Test are to be born between September 1, 2011 to November 30, 2011. Roughly this means that the bulls were 8-10 months old when the evaluation started back in July.

All bulls must be registered in order to be a potential consignment. One change over the years is the addition of more hybrid registered bulls. In fact, this year there are 38 Simmental influenced bulls on test. Another of the initial rules is that bulls on entry must weigh 2.5 pounds per day of age when delivered. From looking over the list of consigners we have five local producers that entered bulls this year for evaluation and sale.

From looking over the final report from November, this was an outstanding year for the bull test. For the entire 112 day evaluation, the bulls gained as a group 3.98 pound per day. You may ask will why is gain that important?

Basically in the cattle industry most cow/calf producers are selling animals based on weight. They prefer animals that are going to gain weight and be heavier at sale date. The herd sire or bull on your farm is very important.

Most farms depending on cow herd size will have one to five herd bulls. For each calf a particular bull sires, he is going to make up half of the genetic make-up of that animal. This makes the bull a very important member of the overall herd.

This year there are approximately 160 bulls on test. Bulls must pass a breeding exam to be sale eligible and they must also be in the top two/thirds of their respected breed on a combination of gain and weight per day of age.

Starting on Wednesday, December 5, the bulls will be transported to the Northwest Georgia Research and Education Livestock Pavilion in preparation for the December 7 sale.

The livestock pavilion is located in sight distance of our office right off the Hwy 53 Spur. You are more than welcome to stop by and see the sale offering prior to the live auction. Any of the UGA staff can visit with you if you have questions on the sale eligible bulls. Hard copies of the sale catalog will be available at the sale site too.

Finally, as many in the NW Georgia agriculture community know, we lost a very dear beef cattle industry leader this fall in Ted G. Dyer. Ted was the UGA Beef Specialist for NW Georgia. Ted was in charge of not only the Calhoun Bull Test, but also the very successful Calhoun HERD Program. The end result of the 43rd annual Calhoun Bull Test is the product of Ted’s preparation and dedication to this particular program.

For more information on the upcoming sale, contact Gordon County Extension at 706-629-8685 or email gbowman@uga.edu.