LEXINGTON, Ky. — The changing landscape of agriculture in Kentucky has brought with it a more heightened awareness of the cattle industry. In fact, the state ranks number one in cattle for all states east of the Mississippi River and eighth nationally, behind such heavy hitters as Texas and Kansas.

Kentucky has gained its reputation in the cattle industry by way of excellent products found at sales such as the recent Blue Ribbon Heifer Replacement Sale at the Blue Grass Stockyards. The sale brought six different consignors from the area together to offer more than 350 of the best replacement heifers around.

David Taylor of Franklin County, one of the producers who helped initiate the sale four years ago, brought nearly one-third of stock sold and has been in the industry long enough to see the marked growth of what use to take a back seat to tobacco production.

“We saw a need to get better bred heifers out to producers in the country, and this has been our way of easing away from being tobacco-dependent,” he said.

Taylor also said that despite the dry weather farmers faced this year, the sale numbers were good – even though they were off a bit from last year.

“We normally have about 550 head at the sale, but cow numbers are down and we were off about $100 a head, but that’s not bad for the kind of year we’ve had. With the hay shortage being what it is, everyone seemed pleased with the sale,” he said.

“In my 20 years in the cattle business, this has been the worst year I’ve seen as far as the weather. I think the late frost at Easter hurt hay production, as much as the drought.”

This year, a total of 322 replacement heifers were sold at an average price of $1,100. The top heifer brought $1,220. Buyers on hand included those from as far away as Springfield, Mo., and on the Internet from as far away as Florida. “We’ve got a good product and we get a lot of repeat buyers at these sales,” said Taylor. “One of our buyers ha

s been here and purchased for three years in a row now. That makes us feel better. If we have a good spring, I think there will be a good market for replacement heifers.”

A couple of things unique to the sale helped provide a little peace of mind to buyers during a tough year: specific breeding criteria for the Angus bulls used in breeding and a vaccination warranty that came with each sold heifer.

The breeding criteria included a birth weight expected progeny difference (EPD) of 1.5 or less and a calving ease EPD of +7 or higher. Taylor said that as far as he knows, this is the only sale in the state that guarantees those breeding stipulations.

Calving ease EPDs and birth weight EPDs are general gauges for producers to determine how successful heifers will be in unassisted births. In some estimates, calving difficulties can cost United States producers $750 million annually. These statistics would indicate a high expectancy of unassisted births for the heifers that were sold.

The vaccination warranty involved the help of Monica Porter, a representative of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BI), makers of the vaccination program known as Range Ready. This particular sale is currently the only one of its kind participating in the Range Ready program.

This series of vaccinations, given to each heifer over a period of time before the sale, helps to ensure the health of the animal once it has been delivered, according to Porter. All animals must be tested and confirmed Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) persistent infection-negative to be eligible for Range Ready. and be free of the disease before qualifying for the program.

“The last injection was given on September 25, 2007. From that date, there was a six-month limited health warranty that covered these animals,” she said. “If a qualifying animal becomes sick due to disease caused by an antigen covered in the required vaccination protocol, BI will reimburse the producer for treatment costs, veterinary services related to diagnosis and fair market value of the animals at the time of death, up to a maximum of $3,500 per animal.” (Documentation is required to support claimed costs and market value.)

“This is the type of program that gives producers something for all their hard work, and an event like the Blue Ribbon Sale helps the program grow. Boehringer Ingelheim’s Range Ready program is a great way to get the pharmaceutical companies and the producers working together so they can take minimize risk and maximize their investment and let it grow on the farm,” she said.

Buyers of 12 or more heifers at the sale were treated to 150 miles of free transportation as well.

In a year when quality was imperative, the Blue Ribbon Sale lived up to its name.

“This set of heifers probably looked better than any sale we’ve had as far as quality and condition,” said Taylor. “All the consignors would like to give a special thanks to the participants and buyers at the sale.”

For more information about the Range Ready program, visit www.range ready.com or call Porter at 800-247-7760, ext. 8706.