A 14-month-old Angus bull became the highest-priced bull ever sold at public auction recently, fetching $800,000 from two ranchers based in Missouri and Oklahoma. The previous record, set just last year, was $750,000.
The bull, SAV Elation 7899, was produced by Schaff Angus Valley of Saint Anthony, North Dakota, and purchased by Square B Ranch and Cattle Company of Warsaw, Missouri, and Bogle Ranch LLC of Langley, Oklahoma. The Schaffs retained a 20 percent ownership interest in the herd bull.
Elation joins a set of elite sires at Square B Ranch, providing the genetic foundation for the Quality Beef program, a Missouri-based network of ranchers whose focus is on improving quality, consistency and value of cattle.
The Quality Beef program was originally created by the University of Missouri before being acquired by Square B Ranch and owner Brian Bell. The goal of Quality Beef is to capture more value from cattle raised on the same resources.
For instance, in an average pen of feedlot cattle, Quality Beef historically shows a gross value difference of about $1,000 per head, on average, for high-quality feedlot cattle versus their lower-quality, costlier counterparts, Bell says.
In other words, it pays to have access to great cattle that work in all phases of production, from pasture to feedyard—and that’s why the investment in Elation was made.
“We want to make great bulls available to our customers,” explains Bell. “And, we want to work together to produce the best-quality herds and the highest-quality beef possible, to raise cattle that function well while driving greater economic returns for ranchers who participate in our program.”
Elation, born in December 2016, possesses a rare balance of traits that are highly desirable for ranchers: low birth weight, high growth and excellent beef quality, to name a few. He also descends from one of the great cow families in the beef industry, and is a grandson of N Bar Emulation EXT, arguably the greatest Angus bull of the last 25 years.
For more information, visit www.squarebcattle.com.
