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Where I’ve Been & Where I’m Going

by Joe Mask | Published October 14, 2015

By Matt Woolfolk, Field Representative & Commercial Marketing Director

I get asked a lot of questions out on the road, but the most common is “Where all have you been lately?”  As much as I travel, I feel like I get a pretty unique perspective of what’s going on within the breed and the different things people are trying within their programs.  So I’m going to use this platform to quickly answer the burning question, “Where all have you been?” and hit the highlights of some things I have seen so far this fall.

  1. I’ve been to sales in four different states so far this fall: Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.  Sales include both satellite and production sales, and prices have been holding strong despite the weaker feeder cattle market we are currently experiencing.
  2. I’ve seen high quality females compete for champion honors at the Miss Beefmaster America, the LOBBA Perfect Pair Futurity and the Miss South Texas Futurity.  Our breeders are competitive and bring a quality set of females to all of these events.  Win or lose, everyone is still friendly with each other after the judges make their selection.
  3. I’ve gone through and looked at over 500 Beefmaster bulls that will sell at public auction in the next month.  There will be a large number of sound, thick, productive bulls going into the commercial marketplace, and they will make a great impact and proudly showcase what our breed can do for the commercial cattlemen in this country.
  4. I’ve only been able to make it to a couple of shows, but reports are that our JBBA members are stepping up to the plate and bringing out some outstanding heifers this fall! Adult breeders reading this, you better watch out: these kids know cattle, they are eager to learn about performance and they will be raising the good ones before too long!
  5. My favorite part of the fall has been all the breeders and members of BBU I’ve visited with.  Whether it’s at a sale or on the farm during the week, there’s a lot of exciting things going on out there. The Beefmaster breed is lucky to have such great people involved in raising these cattle. Now that I’ve been around BBU for a little while, I’m finally starting to get to know people and their outside interests, not just for their cattle. We have some fascinating people!

With a recap of the fall travels to this point complete, it’s time to look ahead to the rest of the fall. There’s still several bull sales, satellite sales, shows and meetings left on the calendar. There’s more states to travel through, breeders to visit, and a Convention to attend. There’s a second issue of The Beefmaster Banner to publish and a spring issue of The Beefmaster Pay Weight to plan.  As you can see, there’s a lot going on!  I hope you’ll find a place to plug yourself into and get more involved in BBU and our supporting organizations. It’s an exciting time for Beefmasters, and we all need to support each other in improving this breed long-term.

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