By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

BEDFORD, Ind. — Beef producers from across the Midwest will join in Bedford, Ind. for the annual Indiana Beef Evaluation Program (IBEP) Bull Sale on April 19 to place bids on 135 elite production bulls.

“These bulls will sire calves that grow rapidly, have high carcass value and ease of calving,” said Kern Hendrix, IBEP Bull Sale manager. “All bulls are 12 months up to 15 months of age and ready to go.”

The 59th annual sale will begin at 6 p.m. and take place at the Springville Feeder Auction, 10 miles northwest of Bedford, Ind. on SR 54-58.

Eight breeds will be on parade in Bedford including, 103 Black Angus, 7 Charolais, 5 Gelbvieh Balancer, 2 Hereford, 1 Lim-Flex, 4 Red Angus, 8 Simmental and 5 SimAngus.

“Most of our sales attract commercial beef cattle producers and they buy bulls based on performance information with the idea of knowing the records from our test,” said Kern Hendrix.

Each bull in the sale must pass rigorous tests and comply with eligibility requirements before entering the sale arena, according to Hendrix.

Additionally, not all consigned bulls are accepted, unless they meet the test requirements.

The select bulls arrived at the site in November 2006 and were tested and evaluated based on performance criteria including rate of gain; structural soundness, such as feet and legs; breeding soundness, such as a semen and reproductive tract evaluation; and carcass perimeter measurements using ultrasound technology such as ribeye, backfat and percent intramuscular fat.
In addition to the physical site in Bedford, the sale will be broadcasted in five locations across the state including the Clark County Purdue Cooperative Extension office, 9608 Hwy. 62 in Charlestown, Ind.; Tippecanoe County Extension office, 3150 Sagamore Pkwy, in Lafayette, Ind.; Fulton County Fairgrounds, 1009 W. Third. St. in Rochester, Ind.; Park County Extension office, U.S. 41 N. in Rockville, Ind.; and the NRCS Office, 143 W. Woodford St. in Lawrenceburg, Ky.

Prior to the sale, bulls may be viewed at the Test Station, located at the Feldun-Purdue Ag. Center, three miles northwest of Bedford on SR 158 and 458 or after 3 p.m. on April 19 at the Springville Feeder Auction.

Hendrix said that IBEP has evaluated 8,246 bulls and 933 get-of-sire groups.

A total of 4,266 bulls have been sold throughout IBEP auctions.
Of these bulls, 91 percent have been purchased by Indiana producers, eight percent by producers from the four states surrounding Indiana and the remainder from other states, said Hendrix.

“We’ve been at this a while and had great participation from beef producers,” he concluded. “We’ve  sold bulls in nearly 21 states in the past 59 years.”

Complete performance data, photos of sale bulls and the catalog can be viewed at www.ansc.purdue.edu/ibep