<b>By SARAH B. AUBREY<br>
Indiana Correspondent</b> </p><p>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It wasn’t one of the biggest or oldest breeders in the Simmental breed that set a record at the National Simmental Select Sale recently, but a junior member and his family.</p><p>
Kyle Ruth, a 15-year-old sophomore from Lone Tree, Iowa, sold the high-selling heifer, DR Miss Built Like A Dream 1S, for $60,000 during the recent 2007 North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) held each year in Louisville, Ky.</p><p>
“We never expected that such a small breeder like us could have such a big impact on the breed,” said Ruth, who, along with his parents, Pat and Donna, and sister, Katlyn, operate Ruth Family Simmentals, a 45-head mostly purebred Simmental operation situated on about 30 central Iowa acres.</p><p>
Selling a bred female for $60,000 is a big hit for most breeders, but in the Simmental breed, officials believe it’s a record for the North American sale.</p><p>
“To the best of my knowledge, Kyle had the highest selling lot in North American Simmental history,” said sale manager Doug Parke, who along with his wife, Debbie, has been involved in the sale for about 15 years. “It was the highest-grossing sale (for the Simmentals at NAILE) in history, too.”</p><p>
Probably the proudest aspect of the big sale for Ruth, who began showing Simmentals at age four, is that his family raised both the high-selling female and her mother.</p><p>
“That we raised her makes it even better,” Ruth said enthusiastically.</p><p>
Built Like A Dream could be called a dream show cow for most juniors. She began her career as a class winner at NAILE in both the open and junior shows, then she was a division winner at the Simmental Breeders Sweep-stakes. But the capstone was being named Supreme Champion Over All Breeds during the Nebraska State Fair.</p><p>
“That was our biggest win,” Ruth noted. “We try to raise most of our show heifers, that’s been successful for us.”</p><p>
He added that hard work and daily time in the barn is what allows him and his sister to get ahead in the showring.</p><p>
Ruth is also heavily involved in the Iowa Junior Simmental Assoc. as a board member and is a member of the American Junior Simmental Assoc.</p><p>
He believes he’s not the only one experiencing success in his chosen beef breed. “The cattle are really good in the Simmental breed right now, and that keeps me really enthusiastic,” he commented.</p><p>
Parke agreed. “People are looking to use Simmental genetics right now. Basically, the reason we’re getting the interest of other breeds is that people are using our genetics in crossbreeding and the club calf industry,” he said.</p><p>
Extremely grateful, Ruth credits his parents with his success, as well as his grandfather, who initially helped him start raising Simmentals. As for the proceeds from the sale, he plans to put the $60,000 to good use.</p><p>
“We’ll probably pay off a few bills first, and then put the money away for college for my sister and me,” he said.