I, Byron Wheeler, of Wheeler & Sons Livestock Auction in Osceola, Mo., take offense to the article titled “Ways to Select the Right Bull.” I agree with much of the article until the last paragraph saying, “You should never buy a bull from a sale barn.” We at Wheeler & Sons Livestock Auction semen test and trich test every bull sold to go home for breeding or it is sold to slaughter only and marked with a ‘K’ for kill.
We have special cow sales the last Saturday night of every month and have had a special bull sale the last Saturday of March and the last Saturday in October every year for 11 years. We pride ourselves on the quality of these sales and have sold bulls for some of the top purebred breeders in the United States.
The better bulls we can sale through our barn to our customers the better the calves will be, which means more money for the producer. Your article quoted Dr. Tom Troxel as saying, “If, for whatever reason, that bull fails a breeding soundness evaluation, that purebred breeder will replace that bull for you.” Well if that breeder was reputable he would have them checked before he sold it. If you buy a bull with a guarantee and take it home to breed cows and don’t check it and the bull is no good, you have lost a calf crop.
The other thing I disagree with is the term “virgin bull.” I don’t think there is such a thing, we have all seen a cow bulling and every bull calf in the pasture chasing the cow. So I don’t believe anyone can say “virgin bull.”
So regardless of what Dr. Tom Troxel said, if you want a chance to buy some of the best bulls in the United States, come see us in March. You will have the opportunity to purchase Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Simmental and Gelbvieh from some of the top seedstock producers and every bull will be semen and trich tested and papers with all EPD’s will be provided.
Sincerely,
Byron Wheeler
Wheeler & Sons Livestock Auction
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