Country's Oldest Performance Bull Test to Celebrate 50th Anniversary During Sale Agri-View: Livestock News

A 50th anniversary is worth celebrating.

That's exactly what the Wisconsin Beef Improvement Association is doing as it prepares for the 50th annual WBIA Central Performance Bull Test Sale on April 7 at 11 a.m. at the UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm.

The bulls in this year's sale are as golden as the anniversary. "This year's set is as good as any I can remember," said WBIA President Allan Arndt. "They're a tight set...They're uniform, and they are all good from top to bottom and across the breeds.

"There'll be bulls at the end of this sale that may be as good as bulls that start many other sales," said Arndt, a Simmental producer from Janesville who has had as many as 50 bulls go through the test in the last 20 years.

As in the past, this year's bull sale follows a lengthy test period that started last fall when beef producers from across the region brought their bulls to the university farm and entered them in the performance test program. The program is an unbiased test that allows young bulls to express their true genetic potential in a neutral, controlled setting.

Each year's test begins in late October when the nominated bulls arrive at the farm; get new, uniform ear tags; treatment for internal and external parasites; a vaccination for respiratory infection; and a dose of nasalgen. Even before reaching the farm, the bulls must have met a series of health requirements and vaccinations determined by the WBIA board.

The bulls are grouped into pens of about 20 head with breeds segregated as much as space and numbers allow. For 28 days, the bulls are in a warm-up period while they adjust to their surroundings and establish a pecking order before the test begins.

For the next 100 days, the bulls get a soy or oat hull-based ration and are regularly weighed to determine their rate of gain. At the test's end, bulls are ultrasound tested for their carcass traits and fertility checked. The top two-thirds of the bulls sell at the annual sale the first Saturday in April.

The WBIA has the honor of being the longest running performance bull test in the nation and one that has seen nearly 6,000 bulls pass through its gates for over 250 different breeders since its start in 1957. That's quite remarkable considering Wisconsin is known more for its dairy production than its beef business, Arndt pointed out.

The program started when UW-Madison professor Ed Hauser and UW-Extension agent Vern Felts saw the usefulness for a beef bull performance testing program. At that same time officials were looking for projects to conduct at the UW's Hancock Station. They accepted the bull test proposal, a barn was built and the bull test was off and running.

In the test's early years, there was liability concern about housing cattle owned by private breeders on university property, so the university purchased the test bulls at weaning, explained Hauser, now retired. At that test's conclusion the bulls were sold by drawing the names of interested buyers out of a hat. The first name selected got the first pick of animals at a predetermined price. The price reflected their performance while on test and was just enough to cover expenses, said Hauser.

The breeders and organizers involved with the project officially organized as the WBIA and elected a board of directors. Today, any breeder wishing to nominate a bull for the test has to first pay the association dues and become a WBIA member. Over the years WBIA has been involved with a number of educational-based events and supports functions in conjunction with the Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association.

Eventually the bull test outgrew the Hancock facility and moved to the UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm in 1972. The move proved positive for the bull test. It had facilities to house 150 bulls and with nominations topping out at 300 bulls annually in the 1980s, they needed all the space they could get. "It's a neutral, third-party site where people feel welcome to stop by and view the bulls anytime they are on test. You wouldn't get that with a private farm," said Arndt.

The bull test also brings positive exposure to UW-Platteville. Arndt said the test generates income for the farm and is a wonderful public relations-type of activity. He talks from experience. When he was in high school he looked at several colleges in and out of state for his post-secondary agricultural studies. Almost by accident he stopped by the UW-Platteville farm for a visit while the bull test was in session.

Arndt noticed the clean, well-kept grounds and nice facilities and thought, "If these guys can run a bull test like this, they certainly know how to run a farm." At that point his decision was made, and UW-Platteville was his choice for college. That same year, as a high school junior, he bought his first bull from the WBIA sale. Five short years later he entered his first of over 50 bulls into the bull test.

At first, the young producer was looking for recognition for his breeding program - without the purebred politics, but now Arndt sees greater value in finding out how his cattle perform once they leave his farm and applying that information back into his own breeding program.

Robert Walton, a Simmental breeder from DeForest, is a true bull test believer and supporter. His first involvement with the bull test was in 1971 when he purchased two Angus bulls for his employer, American Breeders Service, to use as AI sires. Walton said there have been more bulls purchased from the WBIA test sale for AI sires than from any other test, and many have gone on to be top-rated sires.

Walton brought his own bulls to the test the next year. It was the first year it moved to Platteville. He's had between five and 14 bulls there every year since. "I send every bull that's eligible from my herd. I use it as a real genetic test as to how my herd is doing. I get a real cross section of my herd because they all go," Walton said.

"I recognize the times are changing and more people are doing their own on-farm testing, holding their own, private bull sales and picking bulls earlier," Walton said. "But we need to get the word out and continue to tell the story that this is a great place to come and buy superior bulls."

The test continues to evolve to suit the industry's needs. For many years the test was 140 days long and bulls were fed five or six different rations - each higher in energy, said Arndt. Now the test is 100 days long and the hot rations are a thing of the past. Bulls now get the minimal grain, warm-up ration for the entire test. "There's been a misperception out there about the ration. People think we feed a hot ration, but we don't. It's relatively low in grain and not nearly as hot as a feedlot ration," said Arndt. "The bulls' feed efficiency is just getting better and better."

Hauser recalls how good test bulls in the early years had an average daily gain of about 3 pounds. "Today that's almost doubled," he said. This year's top gaining bull gained 5.5 pounds of average daily gain and the heaviest weight per day of age is 4.24 pounds.

Arndt predicted the bull test will continue to evolve. "As the buyers' needs change, I expect we will use different indexes and criteria and find a way to provide those bulls," he said.

"At least it has shown the need to select for and the need for traits that are objective rather than subjective like in the show ring," said Hauser while reflecting on the test's 50-year history. He plans on attending the anniversary sale this year. That's no surprise to those involved with the bull test. He's only missed one sale in its history.

For more information about WBIA and this year's sale consignments, go to Wisconsinbeef.com or call 800-297-5747.