It is sponsored by the Animal & Dairy Science Department of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine with the cooperation of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association, and the hands-on assistance of Georgia County Extension Agents, and the Heifer Crew located at the test center.
This year, the sale will include approximately 125 safe-in-calf heifers. Each heifer has been evaluated and developed at the Northwest Georgia Research and Education Center. The heifers were bred to low calving ease Angus Bulls — a large percentage of the heifers sold will be safe-in-calf to HA Program 5652 (AAA 15161251).
The heifers will be available for viewing May 31 at the Livestock Pavilion in Calhoun or at the farm located just off Ga. 140 on Bells Ferry Road in Rome prior to the sale.
The heifers entered the Calhoun HERD program in December 2010. Commercial and purebred beef producers across the state entered 194 heifers into the program. The heifers were required to have a birth date between December 1, 2009 and February 28, 2010. Upon entering the program, the heifers were given booster vaccinations for IBR/BVD/PI3/BRSV, 7-Way Blackleg, and 5-Way Lepto-Vibrio. Heifers were also dewormed, given an intranasal vaccine, and tested for Persistently Infected-BVD.
The heifers were placed on pasture where they received high-quality Bermuda hay and a supplement of corn gluten and soy hulls. The heifers were fed for a moderate rate of gain which resulted in them reaching the target weight (65 percent of mature weight) by 15 months of age.
Each heifer has been evaluated for pelvic area, frame score, disposition, reproductive tract maturity score and structure. They were artificially inseminated (AI’d) followed by 45 days with multiple low calving ease Angus clean-up bulls. Calving ease Angus was the top priority in the selection of service sires.
The complete evaluation of the heifers will be available in the sale catalog, which published around May 15.
Contact the local county extension office to request additional information or visit www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/animals/beef.
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