Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Numbers+down+prices+bull+sale/4388092/story.html#ixzz1FkKucAaz
The price of a bull is rising.
The average price for the animals edged upward at this week's annual Calgary Bull Sale.
The number of bulls sold decreased about five per cent from last year, according to Alberta Cattle Breeders Association president Mabel Hamilton. However, the average cost of the bulls reached a 10-year high of $4,284.97, she said.
"It gives us some optimism that maybe we'll be able to get through the year just because we had such depressed prices for quite some time," she said.
Canadian cattle have been harder to sell since a scare of BSE -- also known as mad cow disease -- shook buyers in 2003.
Prices likely edged upward in part because so many producers were pushed out of business by fears of the disease.
"A number of producers have sold off and given up. . . . We have a decrease in the number of cattle actually available for sale," Hamilton said. "Hopefully, the good sales and good results will bring numbers back up next year."
The top-selling bull was auctioned at $21,000. No one could be more pleased by the price than the animal's owner, Andy Schuepdach, the head of Lilybrook Herefords Inc.
"It's a pretty proud experience. I guess it makes a guy feel good. We could use the money, I guess," he said. "It's been pretty slow. Cattle prices weren't very high and the demand was very poor, and now it looks like our cow numbers nationwide are low and we're struggling to get enough butcher beef."
The cattle industry is looking a little more optimistic, he added.
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Numbers+down+prices+bull+sale/4388092/story.html#ixzz1FkKJw1CN
