By John F. Grimes
The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) held their fifth annual Replacement Female Sale on November 24 at the Muskingum Livestock Auction Company in Zanesville, Ohio. A large crowd was on hand to bid on 79 high quality females in the sale. The sale represented an excellent opportunity for cow-calf producers to add quality females with documented breeding and health records to their herds.
Buyers had the opportunity to evaluate 79 lots of bred heifers, bred cows, and cow-calf pairs. The sale included 63 lots of bred heifers that averaged $1,949, 10 lots of bred cows that averaged $2,380, and six cow-calf pairs that averaged $1,925. The 79 total lots grossed $158,125 for an overall average of $2,002. This represents a $355 per head increase in price over the 2016 sale. Prices ranged from $1,300 to $2,900. The females sold to buyers from Ohio and West Virginia. Col. Ron Kreis served as the auctioneer.
Erv-N-Del Farm of Louisville, OH consigned the top two selling lots at $2,900 each. The Lot 25 and 26 purebred Simmental bred cows sold to Rose Koehler of Lancaster, OH. The Ohio State University Beef Center of Dublin, OH sold two groups of three Simmental-Angus bred heifers at $2,600 per head. Fairview Farms of Logan, OH purchased the Lot 63, 64, and 78 heifers and Samuel Bond-Zielinski of Freeport, OH purchased the Lot 69, 73, and 77 heifers. LOR-MAR Simmental Farms of Prospect, OH consigned the Lot 44 purebred Simmental cow-calf pair that sold for $2,500 to Josh VanHorn of Malta, OH. Erv-N-Del Farm also consigned the Lot 28 Simmental-Angus heifer that sold for $2,500 to Terry Nicol of Milford Center, OH. Haley Farms of West Salem, OH consigned the Lot 29 purebred Simmental heifer that sold for $2,500 to Nick Fisher of Jackson, OH.
The sale truly was an excellent opportunity for both buyers and sellers. Buyers were able to improve their herds by adding high quality females with known genetic and health backgrounds. Sellers were able to capitalize on steady prices for breeding cattle.