Last year when Lucy Rechel decided that the Bulls for the 21st Century sale would no longer continue, three of the consignors got together and decided to see if there was a way to continue the sale. Charlie Hone, Kris Gudel, and Dave Holden formed a partnership to explore the possibility of continuing the sale. They went to Lucy Rechel with the idea and she agreed. Snyder Livestock would continue their role as the provider for the bull test and Charlie, Kris, and Dave would run the sale. As the bull test and sale evolved, the idea of combining the sale with the Nevada Cattlemen’s association Fallon All Breed Bull Sale was floated among the members. An agreement was reached with the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association and the Great Basin Bull Sale was born. 

The inaugural Great Basin bull sale will be held on February 18th at the brand-new Rafter 3C arena in Fallon Nevada. The sale has 170 bulls consigned in two divisions. In the first division performance tested bulls will be offered with the testing format remaining essentially the same for the bull test. The second division will offer Range bulls under the same format as the Fallon bull sale. Awards for the overall champion, a calving ease Angus champion, and best of breed categories will be given. Another sale feature this year will be a donation bull that will be sold at the beginning of the sale, with the proceeds benefiting the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association. This will hopefully become a major funding source for the association to help them continue doing the great work they do on behalf of cattle producers in Nevada and the surrounding states. 

The bull test will essentially remain the same. Bulls will compete in three divisions according to age. Early fall, Late fall and spring born calves will compete to become the coveted overall performance tested champion. Bulls will be evaluated in Five categories, with the top bull in each category earning maximum points. The categories include fertility, each bull must pass a semen test by a year of age, his dam’s calving records will also be evaluated for calving interval and regularity of calving. Not many bull sales will publish that information for you. The second category will be weaning performance. In herd weaning ratios, EPD’s and weight per day of age will be used for this calculation. The third category will be gain on test. We all sell cattle by the pound and performance is the key to profitability. The fourth category will be feed efficiency. Residual feed Intake or RFI is measured on each bull in the test. Research at leading universities across the country is showing that as much as a 20% gain in efficiency can be gained from using negative RFI bulls. With the drouth conditions we have experienced over the last few years, raising cattle that can do more with less inputs have become more important than ever. The fifth and final category in the evaluation will be ultrasound. Each bull will be ultrasound tested to evaluate their potential carcass quality. 

The Range bull division will provide the same high quality age advantaged bulls Nevada cattle producers have come to expect from the Fallon All Breeds bull sale. These bulls will undergo a thorough sifting and grading process to ensure quality and soundness. Two three-person committees will evaluate the bulls for each category. Quality grading will use the same CBCIA guidelines as in the past. 

One major change from past sales will be a video format. Bulls will be on display for buyer evaluation, however, individual videos of the bulls will be used during the auction instead of running the bulls through the ring. This format is easier on the cattle and the sale staff. The auction will also be broadcast over the internet via DV Auctions. The auctioneer will be Jake Parnell, and the sale will be managed by M3 Marketing.