Standing Room Only

Several head nods and greetings could be seen at the Glasgow Stockyards on Thursday as the first bull sale of the season took place. It was packed enough to leave interested parties standing wherever they could fit. It seems that the interest in what bulls might go for may have brought several spectators to the Wittkopp Angus bull sale.

Reports coming in from analysts say this would be the year for the bull. The cow industry will see another year of high numbers with the worldwide herd down and demand on the rise. The top bull sold for $12,000 on Thursday, with an average price out of the 80 bulls sold sitting at close to $5,700. The top 10 bulls brought in an average of $8,375.

Curt and Sue Wittkopp from Circle hosted the bull sale and they were probably pretty excited to see so many turn out for the sale. The cattle ranch offered free delivery, fertility testing and keeping the bulls until the first of May for delivery.

Volume buyers included Quick Ranch from Circle, with six bulls, Russell Solberg from Richland, with six bulls and Steve Wanderaas from Vida, with four bulls. The top selling bull went to Pine Coulee Angus from Absarokee, Montana.

The bull that came in just under that, at $10,000 went to Kristen Omvig from Opheim. Her purchase of lot 10 looked promising from the start and the high bid for the bull wasn't too terribly surprising.

Commercial and utility cows sold between $95-115, tops at $125. Canner and cutter cows are $85-95, bred heifers are $2,585, short term stock cows are $1,600-1,800. The next bull sale won't take place until March 26, but cattle, feeder and heifer auctions will continue until then.