Bulls on display

• Viewing the stock

Bulls are showcased inside the ring at Stockman’s Livestock Exchange during the 2008 Bull Day Showcase. Officials for the event say approximately 700 people attended last year and expect high numbers again at this year’s event.

Talk about it

Over 500 people are expected to visit Stockman’s Livestock to see bull breeds representing the wide range common to North Dakota.

The 10th Annual Bull Day Showcase, hosted by the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce Ag Committee, will be held Saturday, Jan. 17 beginning at 9 a.m. “The Ag Committee started it as a way for registered breeders to show off their livestock to the commercial breeders,” said Amanda Talkington, Bull Day event manager.

Approximately 50 pens of bulls and ranches will be displayed in the ring and outside pens. Breeds representing Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Saler, Simmental, Red Angus, Balances and Composites will be on site the day of the showcase.

“Those breeds represent what are pretty common around here,” Talkington said.

A free noon lunch will be followed by the showcase which will give the bulls a chance to spend three minutes inside the sale ring for spectators to view the animals and hear more about them.

“We give the information they’ve (the producers) have given us and people can view the bulls in a warm setting in case it’s a miserable day,” said Dale Luhman, Ag committee chairman. “They will also get a chance to know what the people look like too, so they can place the face with the cattle.”

In addition to learning more about the animals, owners may also offer their bulls for sale.

“Some of them are for sale, there are quite a few guys that sell private treaty, their bulls are for sale,” Talkington said. “Others are just showcas-ing them before their production sale.”

Luhman said the committee has nothing to do with the sales, and is just between the producers and the buyers.

Talkington said ranches from Montana and South Dakota will be appearing at the showcase.

“We draw from the three states,”Talkington said. “We get a couple from South Dakota and Montana and some from eastern North Dakota so we have a pretty large area that we draw from.”

Booths representing ranches and producers will be set up inside Stock-man’s show barn throughout the day.

The majority of the ranches showcas-ing bulls have been with the event from the start, Talkington said.

In addition to the showcase, $1,500 in “Bull Bucks” along with door prizes, will be given away to those who register. The “Bull Bucks” are to be used on the purchase of herd sires from those showcasing htat day until June 30, 2009.

Luhman said the event has brought in mass amounts of spectators in the past. “We’ve been bringing in 400 plus every year and one year we even brought in close to 700,” Luhman said.

For more information on the show-case, contact the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce office at 701-225-5115.

Tags: bull, sale, dickinson, stockmans, livestock