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NNUAL
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IMMENTAL
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ULL AND
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EMALE
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RODUCTION
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ALE
Welcome to the
Bata Brothers/Olafson Brothers
Eighteenth Annual Simmental Bull
And Female Production Sale
Dear Friends,
We are proud to be hosting our eighteenth annual sale and we are looking
forward to once again providing the genetics that will move our customers for-
ward in their breeding programs. As we prepare for this sale, there is no ques-
tion that the thing that is the most noteworthy is the record high cattle market.
For too long, cattle producers were not being rewarded their due by the mar-
ketplace, and it is high time that we see this kind of market.
We continue to be excited and pleased with the tremendous progress that is
ongoing in the Simmental breed. There is no question that the Simmental
breed is the place to be if you are a cattle producer who wants to move your
program forward quickly. It can be argued that in the last couple of decades,
the Simmental breed has made more positive progress on the genetics of our
cattle than any other breed.
The cattle industry is seeing unprecedented record prices fueled in part by
lower feed costs, and the future of the cattle business has never been brighter.
We have the lowest cow inventory in the US since the 1950’s and demand for
beef is rising. There has never been a more opportune time to prepare for
tomorrow’s stronger markets.
If you have been closely watching our sale bulls in the last few years, you
might notice that our ADG’s and yearling weights are not as high as last year.
We attribute that in part to the fact that our weaning weights were stronger than
ever this year, which often leads to lower ADG’s. We also attribute it in part to
the fact that we ended up with some lower test weight corn than in previous
years. The upside to having fed a ration that didn’t push the bulls quite as hard
is that it should bring some benefits in long-term structural soundness. If
strong weaning weights are important to you, this year’s bull crop will pique
your interest, and you will find a lot of bulls to pick from with exceptional
weaning performance numbers.
We appreciate the opportunity to work with our longtime friends, the Bata
families, in bringing you this quality offering of Simmental seedstock.
Thank you for attending our sale.
Olafson Brothers
Curtis and Roger
Dear Friends,
Welcome to our eighteenth annual sale. We have had some up and down weather this
year but going into fall and winter it has been dry with little snow making it much eas-
ier on us and the cattle. It has been cold but that’s North Dakota.
With the high cattle prices, performance is more important than it has ever been.
We are working at increasing your profit by increasing your cattle weights. Our new
herdsires are an example of the commitment we have made to increasing weaning and
yearling weights. A commitment we have worked at for years. We are true perform-
ance advocates and have been recognized by the ASA this year for having done so.
We weaned the calves in November this year. A little later than we like to, but they
have really been performing and looking good since. We switched our ration for the
first time to a high roughage TMR similar to Olafson’s. Wow what a difference, our
average daily gain went to 4.60 and our adjusted yearling weights jumped as well. I
think the bulls are showing their true potential without being overfed.
We would like to thank Brent Kuss and his family for their commitment to our
embryo program the past few years. They do an excellent job and are wonderful peo-
ple to work with. When the calves come in the fall they always look great. Thank you.
Our family has grown to 6 grandkids and keep grandma and grandpa busy. This
winter we found out we don’t need a sand box because they would rather play in the
corn pile. They love feeding cows with grandpa and riding in tractors or the Bobcat.
They are always a joy and try spend as much time with them as possible.
We spent the fall watching the NDSU Bison football team again and even got to go
meet several of the players with my grandson Hudson. Hudson has spent a lot of time
in the hospital this past year with medical issues but is doing great now. Mark has
been gone a lot, but family and friends have really helped out and we are grateful for
them. We didn’t make it to Texas to the 4th Bison championship but to other more
tropical destinations instead.
We enjoy working with the Olafson’s, as we both believe in the goal of making
Simmental the ideal breed for the cattle industry. Visitor always welcome.
See you at the sale!
Bata Brothers
Joe, Chris, Mark
