Green Springs Bull Testing Facility
Owner: Kent Abele, owner and manager
Location: Nevada, Mo.
Company History: Green Springs Bull Test was started in Nevada, Mo., in 1999 by Kent Abele. “The first year we only had 56 bulls and last year we had 900,” Kent said. Kent, along with his wife Kathy and son Cole, own and manage Green Springs Bull Test.
GrowSafe Program: In 2005 Kent implemented the GrowSafe program into Green Springs Bull Test. GrowSafe is a program based out of Calgary, Canada, that monitors individual feed efficiency of the bulls on test. “It can calculate within 10 grams per day what each bull eats,” Kent said. GSBT can put 140 bulls on the GrowSafe program at one time.
Products and Services: There is no limit to the number of consignors or the number of bulls each consignor can bring to Green Springs Bull Test. “We have around 100 consignors from 15 or 16 states,” said Kent. Green Springs Bull Test holds two sales per year, one the third Sunday in March and another, the third Sunday in November. Consignors have access to the GSBT sales, but they are not obligated to sell their bulls there. Green Springs Bull Test offers individual bull data including RFI data, average daily gain, weight per day of age, pelvic measurements, scrotal circumference, frame scores and breeding soundness exam results. They also supply ultrasound data including ribeye area, intramuscular fat and backfat thickness. “We take pride knowing that cattle owners will know as much or more about bulls from here than anywhere else,” Kent said. Green Springs Bull Test also offers to send its collected data to breed associations. Brauniveh is currently the only breed association working with GSBT.
What does the future hold?
“We plan to add waterers that weigh the animal each time it comes to drink to eliminate having to handle the animals to weigh them. Having to handle the bulls can make them go off feed for a while and we’d like to get rid of that problem. I’m also interested in starting a heifer program in the future.”
By Hailey Robertson
