Steamboat Pilot & Today

Hayden — Brita Horn and her husband have driven miles and miles for days looking for a bull to complement their cattle herd.
From McCoy, they would drive through all of South Routt, Walden, Hayden, Craig and Steamboat Springs looking for just the right one.
Tired of the tedious process, which most ranchers are familiar with, Horn got together with other organizations to make a better way for ranchers to find their perfect bull.
Horn is the president of Routt County CattleWomen. Her organization, along with the Community Agriculture Alliance, the Cooperative Extension Office, and breeders throughout Routt, Moffat and Jackson counties formed a steering committee (no pun intended) to create the first Northwest Colorado Bull Sale.
The sale will host 68 bulls from 24 consignors around Northwest Colorado. It will begin at 11:30 a.m. April 12 at the Routt County Fairgrounds in Hayden.
Events begin at 5 p.m. Friday night, with a free roast beef and mashed potatoes dinner. Guest speaker Mark Enns, an animal science professor from Colorado State University, will give a lecture on Expected Progeny Difference, a test that predicts a bull's genetic reproduction performance.
In hosting and offering high quality bulls at this sale, the committee has required a battery of tests on all bulls being offered to ensure buyers receive the highest quality bulls possible.
"There is no other multi-breed bull sale in Colorado," said Routt County Cooperative Extension Office member C.J. Mucklow. "This will be a one-stop shopping opportunity for buyers and sellers of bulls."
"This is a great opportunity to get local breeders and ranchers together and host a new event," said Jean Petersen, executive director of the Community Agricultural Alliance. "We've been talking about having this for over a year, and we all think it will be very successful."