One of the largest purebred dispersal sales in the Gelbvieh breed in the past decade occurred on November 3 in Pierre, S.D. Jon and Theresa Beastrom Gelbvieh offered nearly 400 head on a beautiful, near perfect day at their ranch overlooking the Great Plains and Missouri River basin of South Dakota.

Probably no sale has offered such an exclusive set of herdsires. Proven sires as well as young junior herdsires created excitement and discussion from coast to coast. To answer the numerous phone calls regarding their selling price, here is a rundown of the herdsire sale lots:

Lot #1: BTI Red Alert 2077K – Popular 2001 Breeder's Choice Runner-up sired by the National Champion, SLC Freedom. $13,500 – Buyers: Kal-Kota Gelbvieh of Steele, N.D. and Lee Miller Gelbvieh of Glen Ullin, N.D.

Lot #2: JCGR Bar GT Newton 7J – Homozygous Black $45,000 syndicated bull sired by Einstein. $4,000 – Buyer: Thorstenson Gelbvieh and Angus of Selby, S.D.

Lot #3: BNC Black Power G736 – Homozygous Polled bull with impeccable EPD's (WW/64 and YW/113), sire by National Champion TLR Cocoa. His sire group of females and sons was extremely impressive and appreciated by all those who were in attendance. $10,000 – Buyer: Thorstenson Gelbvieh and Angus of Selby, S.D.

Lot #4: ELK Freightrain 836D – Homozygous Polled sire of such herdsires as the $15,000 KLBF King of the Hill “Hank” bull at work in the Schroeder Ranch program of Sioux Falls, S.D. $4,000 – Buyer: Thorstenson Gelbvieh and Angus of Selby, S.D., struck for a third time. Thorstenson's have always understood the value of time honored proven genetics.

Synopsis of the Female offering – some top selling lots include:

Lot #8: $5,250 – Buyer: Little Windy Hill Farm, Doug Hughes, Max Meadows, Va. A 3/28/97 Homozygous Black LEN Zorro cow out of Lot #7 Donor Cow.

Lot #7: $5,000 – Buyer: Little Windy Hill Farm, Doug Hughes, Max Meadows, Va. GAR Gauglers Barbie ET 306C – 2/18/93 Homozygous Black Donor Cow sired by ELK CK Night Train Poll 28Z.

Lot #14: $5,750 – Buyer: Retirement Acres Gelbvieh – Bud Beastrom and Mitch Ellison of Lemmon, S.D. JCB 009K – Bred Heifer sired by BNC Black Power (Lot #3) and out of the $3,000 donor cow JCB 356C (Lot #13). Safe in calf to LLJ Mettler's Black Torch.

Lot #9: $5,000 – Buyer: H&H Farms, Ron and Brad Hughes of Max Meadows, Va. Donor Cow, KRT Lazy TV D377 – 5/5/94 daughter of PTC Pacific GS Prospect 772B – Safe to the $52,000 HAD Knockout bull that's presently in the pastures of H&H Farms!

Lot #10/10A: $5,250 – Retirement Acres (see Lot #14 synopsis) Homozygous black CTRG Black Thunder female with a spectacular black Black Power (Lot #3) daughter at side.

Lot #274/274A: $5,000 – H&H Farms (see Lot #9 synopsis) Homozygous Black Donor Cow with a big stout Black Power bull calf at side: KRT Lazy TV E561 sired by DDF Otis ET.

Volume buyers included:

17 lots – C&L Farms, Larry Davis of Kinston, Ala.

13 lots – Beartooth International of Columbus, Mont.

Cattle sold into 15 states from Montana to Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina.

The entire sale offering was praised for its quality from top to bottom. Many buyers who had never seen the Beastrom cattle remarked how remarkable they were – remarkable in condition, presentation, soundness, and structural correctness. Jon Beastrom truly did a remarkable job in preparation for the sale and the cattle were definitely given the opportunity to express their true genetic capabilities.

Sale Management: Mettler Sale Management of Canton, S.D.

Auctioneer: Lynn, Seth and Scott Weishaar of Reva, S.D.