An annual event held in Centre County plays a key role for the state’s beef industry.

The Pennsylvania’s Livestock Evaluation Center in Pennsylvania Furnace is a regional resource for the livestock industry, and its biggest day is the last Friday in March, when it hosts the annual Performance-Tested Bull Sale, said Gregory Hubbard, station manager.

Beef producers from Pennsylvania and surrounding states bring their best bulls to the center in October for a 112-day performance test, where, as they grow, they’re measured and evaluated for characteristics like growth, muscling, feed efficiency and breeding soundness. At the end of the test, they’re ranked on how well they perform, and the best are selected for sale — 85 beef bulls out of the 158 total bulls evaluated this year, Hubbard said.

Friday, March 27, was the 53rd year for the Pennsylvania Performance Bull Test Sale. Since 1973, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Performance Bull Testing Program has provided the state’s beef industry with a way to measure inherited traits through sire evaluation. The center has adapted with advancing technology, offering expanded information on bulls and enhancing their marketability to potential buyers.

Paul Slayton stands with Slayton KCF Giddy Up 501 at BearDance Farm in Bedford County. Courtesy photo

Careful guidance and foresight have developed the center into a regional hub for improving the beef industry, Hubbard said.

Producers purchase from this program because the bulls are proven on paper and in the pen. This sale averaged $6,963 across 85 bulls, totaling $591,850. Bulls from this sale will help producers from across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast to meet the need for beef with genetics that are more efficient and hold traits needed in the marketplace, Hubbard said.

Hubbard said the test is open to all beef breeds.

“The number of individual breeds varies depending on the year and what consignors bring in. This year we tested 10 individual breed groups which included Angus, Hereford, Simmental, Full Blood Simmental, Red Angus, Charolais, Limousin, Black Hereford, SimAngus and Balancer. The last three were composite breeds, which are popular in the beef industry right now,” Hubbard said.

“The Livestock Evaluation Center’s rigorous 112-day test program gives both consignors and buyers confidence that every bull offered represents proven performance, sound data and long-term value,” said Russell Redding, state secretary of agriculture.

Bedford County farm has top Hereford

Slayton’s BearDance Farm, in the Dutch Corner area of Bedford Township, six miles northeast of Bedford, has been a long-time consignor to the test, bringing Hereford genetics that are sound, outperform their peers on test and will enhance the market, Hubbard said.

Slaytons’ BearDance, owned by Paul and Bette Slayton, was recently awarded Top Indexing Hereford Bull at the bull test. That marks the fourth consecutive year the farm has earned the distinction of producing the highest indexing Hereford bull.

This year’s winner, Slayton 530 Nicholas, also stood out as the Top-Selling Bull across all breeds at the Bull Test Sale on March 27, bringing $14,000.

Paul Slayton said he started raising Hereford bulls in 1983 when he came to Pennsylvania to manage the Hereford cattle at Falkland Farms in Schellsburg.

He decided to participate in the bull test event for marketing purposes.

“It’s a good way to sell bulls,” Slayton said.

“Better feed efficiency, better meat quality, longevity in the herd are traits that the Slayton’s have worked to perfect in their herd. The test really starts with good genetic selection, Paul and Bette Slayton bring those good genetics in their Hereford bulls. The test helps to verify these beneficial traits and assists in marketing them to make them available to cattle producers to improve their herds,” Hubbard said.

Slayton said the competition gets tougher each year.

“The numbers keep getting better, so to be competitive our numbers need to improve each year,” he said.

Woodbury farm had four of top 21 bulls

AJK Ebony Acres Farm in Woodbury, owned by Adam and Jennifer Kauf, also participated in the event.

Adam has been a lifetime cattle producer, is a board member of both the Pennsylvania Cattleman’s and Angus Associations, as well as being a producer representative on the technical committee for the bull test. Jennifer is a large animal veterinarian, owning Legacy Livestock Veterinary Service with Dr. Mary Wright in Woodbury, with a primary practice emphasis on dairy and beef cattle.

“We are purebred seedstock Angus cattle breeders, targeting the bull test as our major outlet to provide superior genetics to other cattlemen. We have been involved in the bull test off and on along with my father, Lance Kauf of Ebony Farm in West Sunbury, for about 20 years, consistently providing bulls of our own to the test for about 15 years,” Adam Kauf said. “This year we had four of the top 21 indexing bulls offered for sale. We value the test as a competitive, unbiased source of evaluation of our genetics against other top seedstock producers from around Pennsylvania and neighboring states.”

Test is ‘100% beneficial’

EK Angus of New Enterprise, owned by Ezra and Kaitlyn Swope, has been participating in the event for about 10 years.

Ezra Swope said participating in the event is beneficial.

“It is 100 percent beneficial, the main reason to participate is to sell the bulls. A lot of the producers in Pennsylvania are small, this is a chance to offer genetics to the public,” Ezra Swope said. “It is a test to help evaluate feed efforts and growth of bulls. We need to make sure our bulls are more efficient.”

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.