The Certified Hereford Beef® (CHB) and Hereford Verified eligible calves from six states — Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee — were sold at the Tennessee Livestock Producers’ Barn in Thompson Station.

A University of Tennessee analysis revealed that $5.94 more per hundredweight was received by the Hereford consignors (excludes odd lots and heifers) compared to the week’s Tennessee auction average. The bottom line is that Southeastern Hereford producers have earned, on average, an additional $38.80 per head by participating in organized marketing efforts, bringing together the numbers and verification that feeders demand.

As both sellers and buyers have realized its benefits, the Tennessee Hereford Marketing Program Sale has grown tremendously, from 200 head seven years ago to the 751 head sold this year. The sale began with a group of Southeastern breeders who decided to do something about discounts they were receiving for small lots in auction barns throughout the region.

Headed by the Tennessee Polled Hereford Association, and backed by a strong team of representatives from this year’s six consigning states and South Carolina, the sale has met and far exceeded its initial goal: to obtain the quoted average price of all cattle selling in auctions across the state of Tennessee.

Jim Williams, CHB LLC vice president of supply, commends sale organizers for “taking the bull by the horns.” He says, “They identified the problem, produced a solution and now annually identify problems to make the sale even better for the buyers.” This commitment to continually providing what industry leaders demand as they demand it, in a load lot capacity, is the reason for the sale’s success, Williams adds.

John Woolfolk, one of the sale organizers and consignors from Jackson, Tenn., is excited that this year 350 head of calves went to CHB-contracted feedlots. “This will provide a significant amount of data for the American Hereford Association and our breeders,” he says. “We’re anxious to see how the cattle perform.”

Also exciting this year was the successful sale of 72 eight-weight steers directly off the farm. Burns Farms Herefords, Pikeville, Tenn., sold these calves via video. To generate interest, a DVD was produced and mailed to prospective buyers throughout the Midwest.

Woolfolk says that many satisfied customers return year after year and that the buyer pool is growing. This year the calves sold into states as far as Kansas and Iowa.

TheBeefSite.com News Desk