The 50th annual Western Illinois University Performance Tested Bull Sale was held March 11 at Lowderman Auction Center in Macomb. The event had 60 registered buyers from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri and Iowa, and sold 35 yearling Angus, Red Angus, Charolais, Simmental and SimAngus bulls across the five states. The bulls averaged $4,073 in this year’s sale, which is record-breaking, averaging almost $1,000 higher per bull than in 2021. The top sale was an Angus bull consigned by Marda Angus, of Lodi, WI, Marda Black Pearl 1905, which sold for $9,500 to Larry O’Hern of Vermont,... Read More

The 49th annual Western Illinois University Performance Tested Bull Sale was held in mid-March at Lowderman’s Auction Center in Macomb. The sale helps breeders, producers and cattlemen to identify important performance traits, profit-making indicators and value-added genetic markers. In October, the bulls arrived at WIU as weaned calves from 17 consignors from Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. According to WIU Assistant Professor of Agriculture Keela Trennepohl, the bull test manager for the event, the bulls transitioned for 21 days and started on the test in early November. The test lasted... Read More