It’s with great pleasure, anticipation and relief I present to you the 10th Annual Roche Cattle Bull Sale. It is a lot of work to put on a sale and I can’t help but first thank the Badiola family. They have been so gracious in hosting the event. I realize this format of a sale is new for our area but I feel like this is the future of cattle sales, it is easier on both the staff and the cattle. Plus, we can enjoy the sale inside a stunning facility.
I feel the cattle we have brought to town represent our program with class and a ton of mass. We make our living in the commercial cow world so WE KNOW what it takes to make ends meet in this difficult profession. We have run cattle in the toughest Nevada desert to the prettiest, elevated meadow. All situations are different and we all have what we prefer. That being said, I feel these bulls can improve any commercial cowherd. They are bred with a functional female and stout commercial steer in mind. Some producers chase numbers (EPDs), while some chase looks. We work to keep an even balance between the two. If I have to work with cattle every day, I want them to be attractive! That being said, they also have to pay the bills, so they must be functional. These bulls are exactly both. I will put our feeder cattle up against anyone in terms of performance and eye appeal. Cattle buyers like good looking rigs and better looking cattle.
The Simmental influenced bulls are what every cow/calf guy should be using. We are mostly Angus based cowherds in the west and when Simmental genetics are introduced, one will be amazed with the change. Calves will be heavier in the fall due to hybrid vigor, but not from an increase in frame. It is usually an increase in actual thickness of the cattle. The females will greatly improve the longevity in the herd as well as the reproductive consistency when crossbred. The Angus bulls in the offering represent exactly what I want to see in an Angus. They are loaded with power and break the stereotypical mold of not having anything to them. There is also a group of Angus bulls offered that will be great heifer bull candidates, and not just because of an EPD. They were low birth weight calves and are made to come out. One must look at the phenotype and EPDs. In my opinion, they are from proven bulls and great females.
Thanks again for taking to time to sort these bulls. I truly appreciate the interest and please feel free to call whenever with any questions or to just talk cattle!
Trevor Roche
Roche Cattle - Parma, Idaho
Trevor Roche.............................................................208.880.7676
LaMar Roche.............................................................208.250.5575
SALE STAFF:
Trent Stewart.......................Auctioneer…................541.325.3662
Kyle Colyer…............................................................208.250.3924
Mark Frisbey..........................................................208.890.4517
CONSULTANTS:
Brian Bott.................................................................208.431.1234
Dr. Travis Allen...........................................................208.989.7830
Carey Hawkins..........................................................208.724.6712
Justin Roche.............................................................435.327.1842
Nate Gillam...............................................................208.741.0685
Doug Mikelson.........................................................208.880.0834
Micah Wilson............................................................541.403.3051
SALE LOCATION & DETAILS:
Badiola Arena • 402 US Hwy 95 • Homedale, ID 83628
The bulls and heifers will be on display in the pens behind Badiola Arena. The actual action will be held inside “The Tango” restaurant located in front of the arena next to the entrance. No animals will enter a ring, instead, each animal will be individually videoed and sale in catalog order on big screen TVs. If you have any questions how the sale will operate please feel free to call.
BIDDING:
If you are unable to be present, contact one of the sale consultants to place a bid, or bid over Superior Click To Bid:
DINNER:
A ribeye steak dinner will be offered for all of those in attendance sale day. Please come early because the sale will start promptly at 4 PM.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Announcements from the auction block will take precedence over any printed matter.
LIABILITY:
All persons attending this sale do so at their own risk, legal or otherwise, for their safety or the behavior of the animals. The owners, auction service and sale staff assume no liability for property loss or any accidents that may occur.
TRUCKING & DELIVERY:
Free delivery, nationwide, on all bulls selling for over $3,500. We have sold cattle to 25 states the past few years and have many options in assisting with transportation. Please don’t allow distance to keep you from bidding. We have always been able to find a ride and will guarantee no more then $300 a head to central points throughout the United States.
GUARANTEE:
Every bull comes with a 100% first breeding season guarantee. If any problems present themselves please call ASAP. We don’t have a fancy equation or program. We will just try to make you happy!
REGISTRATIONS:
Bulls selling for $4,000+ will be registered free of charge. A $50 registration fee will apply to any bulls selling for less than that. Papers will be furnished upon all bulls selling if requested by the buyer within 3 weeks. Leave a name, address and member association number with the sale staff at the conclusion of the sale. For papers requested after 3 weeks an additional charge may apply.
As many people know I am not the biggest believer in EPDs. I have seen them proven wrong and pointless countless times when raising and marketing livestock. When’s the last time a local auction was stopped to talk about the $B or YW EPD of the calves being sold? Far too often we as producers buy into the propaganda as we strive to improve the product we are producing and increase our bottom line. There is absolutely nothing wrong with always seeking improvement, but when that improvement is based on unproven data, we begin to chase a mirage. With the increased focus on genomics and DNA testing, the amount of data can become overwhelming. I can see it perpetuated from all breed associations with new EPDs and inflated numbers. I was about to jump into the top 1% EPD profiled cattle. I traveled across the Midwest visiting the ultra-progressive herds right when the CRAZY numbers we starting to be seen. I was searching for a few donors to bring this new concept west, and mass produce them in a hurry. I found myself at a farm in Wisconsin looking at a set of females with the ridiculously high EPDS and $B values. I wanted to like the cattle so bad, and take the west by storm, but as I was walking through the cattle, I realized the stock was no different than what I had at home. They weren’t lunkers or dinks, just common Angus that read amazing on paper. I left disgusted confused and returned to Idaho trying to figure what to do with EPDs and data.
I have always believed heterosis, at any level, can beat EPDs, but I could not find a study to support either side of the argument. The opportunity for clarity came when my dad decided to sell his commercial cows. I thought no better way to put EPDs and my philosophy to the test then with actual cattle in a real-world environment entirely based on actual PROFIT
I purchased 300 3-7-year-old cows and split them right down the middle. 150 cows were bred to my Simmental yearling bulls that didn’t quite pass semen test for the bull sale. The other 150 cows were bred to Angus bulls I purchased with the very best EPD profiles you can find. They were top 5% for WW and YW, as well as $C, $B and $F. Both groups wintered and calved together on cornstalks, summered in Donnelly, Idaho, and weaned the same day. EID tags were placed in each calf at birth. Individual birth weights and weaning weight were taken on each calf. A load of each group (2/3 steers, 1/3 heifers) were fed out in Wisner, Nebraska, to avoid any bias data. The results speak for themselves.
ANGUS
CROSSBRED SIRED CALVES OUTPERFORMED THE ANGUS BY 10%
After feeding the cattle out and getting back the kill data from my commercial experiment I don’t believe EPDs can outperform heterosis, and the numbers don’t lie. The crossbred calves WEANED, CONVERTED and GAINED over 10% better than the Angus. I believe heterosis from a plethora of continental breeds would show the same dominance in the pasture and feedlot. I’m not anti-Angus! I’m just saying the current EPD profiles paint a picture that can easily be crushed by crossbreeding. I have always heard heterosis is a free lunch, now I know that statement is true. Moral of the story for the commercial cattleman, crossbreed until the EPDs can beat divine design. The dairy breeds have figured out genomics and EPDs. I truly believe someday the beef producers will do the same, but that day is not today!
And don’t forget a crossbred cow will run much longer than any purebred. LONGEVITY is one of the most profitable characteristics that nobody talks about when building a cowherd.
HARD RIGHT H21
Purebred Simmental • ASA: 3790968 OMF Epic E27 x MCM Top Grade 018X BW: 1.8 • WW: 86.2 • YW: 127.8 • Milk: 19.5
Purebred Simmental • ASA: 3485371
x MR TR Hammer 308A ET
Purebred Simmental • ASA: 3957394
Remedy 7F x 4/B Miss Pilgrim 81B
2.2 • WW: 80.0 • YW: 114.9 • Milk: 22.6
Purebred Simmental • ASA: 3958195
TECUMSEH 058J Purebred Simmental • ASA: 3317371
Foresight x MR NLC Upgrade U8676
EPIC E27 Purebred Simmental • ASA: 3419044
All-Around Z35 x OMF Commander Y69
Uprising C104 x HPF Quantam Leap Z952
Purebred Simmental • ASA: 2891465 MCM Top Grade 018X x Welshs Dew It Right 067T
2.5 • WW: 93.6 • YW: 153.7 • Milk: 20.4
INSIGHT 0129
Purebred Angus • AAA: 16805884 S A V Brilliance 8077 x P V F New Horizon 001
2.2 • WW: 60 • YW: 104 • Milk: 21
Purebred Red Angus • RAAA: 4150466 Andras Fusion R236 x WEBR TC Card Shark 1015
-3.3 • WW: 45 • YW: 70 • Milk: 26
CE (Calving Ease Direct) predicts average difference in ease with which a sire’s calves will be born when he is bred to first-calf heifers.
BW (Birth Weight) is a predictor of progeny birth weight attributed to its progeny.
WW (Weaning Weight) & YW (Yearling Weight) are predictors of the animal’s ability to transmit weaning growth and yearling growth to its progeny.
ADG (Average Daily Gain) can be defined as the average amount of weight a market animal will gain each day during the feeding period.
MCE (Maternal Calving Ease) indicates how easily a sire’s daughters will calve at 2 years of age when compared to the daughters of other sires.
Milk is a predictor of an animal’s genetic merit for milk and mothering ability.
MWW (Maternal Weaning Weight) is a measure of how much a cow’s milk production and genetics contribute to the weaning weight of her daughters. Higher MWW values are more favorable.
STAY (Stayability) predicts the probability of a bull’s daughters staying in production to at least six years of age compared to daughters of another bull. Reported as a percentage, a higher value is desirable.
