In what likely is the world’s largest one-breed bull sale, the DeBruycker family sold 677 Charolais bulls. They hosted buyers from 21 states and Canada.
The world’s largest? “Sounds pretty accurate to me as far as I am aware,” said Brett DeBruycker of Dutton, Montana. The April 2, 2022 sale began at 11 a.m. and finished at 5:30 p.m.
The 38th annual sale, held at Western Livestock Auction, Great Falls, Montana, offered 700 purebred Charolais bulls. Last year, 690 sold.
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A difference this year was that the family was without patriarch Lloyd DeBruycker, who passed away last fall at age 87. His wife Jane and seven grown children survive him.
A statistical breakdown shows 597 yearlings sold for an average of US$4,291 each. Eighty long yearlings averaged US$5,594 each.
Montana’s Wellman Ranch was the volume buyer, taking home 100 bulls. Florida’s Bellamy Cattle Co. bought 40 bulls. Five other volume buyers bought between 37 and 22 bulls each.
The high seller sold at $32,000 to a Kansas cattle producer. Five other bulls sold between $10,000 and $20,000.
In Canadian notes, the 2020 high seller went home to Travis Foot, Footprint Farms, Esther, Alta. Foot spent US$19,000 on a yearling.
“Because of COVID, I didn’t actually go to their sale,” Foot said. “They sent me pictures and then I bid online.”
In 2021, Carman Jackson, High Bluff Stock Farm, Inglis, Man., bought the third-highest seller for $15,000.
This year, Canadians purchased 13 bulls. Thanks to Mark Kihn for this submission.