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Some of the main bull sales in Britain take place in Perth, Scotland in
February and October each year. Buyers have never had such a wide range
of recorded bulls to choose from as now.
Table 1 below demonstrates for the major breeds that most
of the animals sold are recorded and, importantly, the majority of those
have Beef Values and EBVs inside the Top 25% for the breed. [The Beef
Value is an index of production merit, calculated from the EBVs; Signet
is the arm of Britain’s Meat & Livestock Commission that does
this work]
Table 1 Entries of recorded bulls, Perth October 2004
| Breed |
|
%
of all bulls sold that are Signet Recorded |
%
of recorded bulls sold with Beef Value in Top 25% or better |
%
of bulls sold with Beef Value below breed average |
| Charolais |
120 |
91% |
83% |
5% |
| Limousin |
72 |
85% |
72% |
15% |
| A
Angus |
42 |
81% |
97% |
2% |
| Simmental |
104 |
95% |
79% |
4% |
Table 2 below demonstrates how prices paid related to the
Beef Values of the recorded bulls for each of the main breeds. [Note that
£1 = US$ 1.8]
| Beef Value |
CHAROLAIS |
LIMOUSIN |
SIMMENTAL |
ANGUS |
|
Average (£) |
No. Sold |
Average (£) |
No. Sold |
Average (£) |
No. Sold |
Average (£) |
No. Sold |
| Top
1% |
6353 |
10 |
4658 |
6 |
4657 |
17 |
4213 |
8 |
| Top 10% |
5157 |
49 |
3434 |
24 |
3503 |
41 |
3323 |
17 |
| Top 25% |
4623 |
31 |
3352 |
14 |
3302 |
20 |
4751 |
8 |
| Average |
3005 |
13 |
3640 |
12 |
2211 |
17 |
- |
- |
| Below Average |
2940 |
6 |
2625 |
5 |
2861 |
4 |
2730 |
1 |
Buyers are prepared to pay a significant premium for higher
quality genetics. Differences in the values of animals with average Beef
Values and those that were in the Top 1% of the breed range from £1000
to £3350. These are now long-established trends.
Breeders are also bringing leading genetics forward
for sale. The majority of bulls have Beef Values in the Top 25% of their
breed.
The sales at Perth and other centres in Britain make an
ideal shop-window for the breeds concerned – we welcome breeders
from overseas to come and see the quality of our stock.
Look at the societies websites from our Members
section to check sale dates and venues.
[2 Nov 04]
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