Monday morning we headed over to Terrebonne, Oregon for the Performance Plus Bull Sale at Holiday Ranch, a part of 44 Ankony (1 of 4 Ankony farms in the Nation). It wasn't a bad drive over, ODOT kept most of the snow off the passes so it was an easier drive. The scenery was amazing :) When we got there, we had some time to look at the bulls in the pens. All black, with some Sim-Angus in a back pen. It was good to see quality bulls in such a mass quantity. (Rabbit breeders would be amazed with this concept). Some pens were embryo transfer, such as the 6o's lot, which came out of one sire and dam, placed into other less quality cows. It's pretty common among beef cattle, and more recgonizable in Angus. Holiday is such a nice setup, big clean pens, good hay and beautifully trimmed bulls not overfed and ready for new owners :) We then got lunch, and took too long with that and didn't get good seats for the auction, but that's alright since we weren't buying. I got a pretty good place to stand and didn't mind. The first two bulls out spun the buyers at over 5,000 a piece. The top bull went for $16, 000 and if I remember correctly he was out of a deceased, famous bull which semen went for over $500 a straw. At any rate, prices were up... I saw some great stock, and had a great time. I can't wait for next year!
Tuesday night I had a math exam. I finished in less than an hour and headed upstairs to catch the tail end of Purebred Cattle Management and Steer A Year. A good presentation was given on our Expenses for Steer A Year and what we need to make to break even. We're going to charge $3.50-3.75 for quality beef, so if you are interested, shoot me an e-mail!
I fed Friday night and got to bed rather early as I had to be up at 6 am to head to Critter Romp! I left at 7 am for McMinnville. I got there, checked in with the superintendant and relaxed for a bit. I chatted with some breeders and my 4-H'er that came with me. I started off with a table of Seniors, and four tables of Intermediates. I called back 7 of the Intermediates to make my decsion. I also got to do Champion/Reserves as well. :) I ate lunch, and then it was conformation. I doubt I can tell you all the breeds I judged, but I felt that I did a pretty good job and made good BIS/RIS decisons.
My ambassador application has been looked at it. I will have an interview next week hopefully and should find out shortly after that. I don't mind if I don't get in, I'm only a sophomore. Waiting to hear back from Columbia Dairy and various scholarships.
On the rabbit side, it's been nearly impossible to get rabbit information out of my parents. I'm not going home this weekend as I originally planned so I'm not going to be home until March 20th where I will make my first National junior cuts. It makes it hard to pre-sell and make show selections 3 hours away from home, I don't suggest it !! My parents are supposed to be weighing and going over the three I plan to have shown in a couple of weeks. I'm worried as I have heard some negative comments about the feed I started in December. However, my parents tell me no rabbits are molting, and Roxy, who has been on this food for quite some time, looks and feels just fine! She has every reason to be out of condition as well and she still rocks the tables :)
For those of you who may be interested, I don't get the internship and stay home this summer, I will be breeding Roxy in June :) I am currently searching for a very nice broken buck to use at Oregon State Convention to complement her nice type. Roxy has made the college transition so much better. The first term was very hard to go without a rabbit! I used to have negative thoughts about Hollands (my first experience raising them wasn't good, they were poor quality rabbits) and none of them had the temperment she does.
that's all for now :)
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