Bull Prices Drop At Annual Auction

It was a bull buyer’s paradise Tuesday at the Cowman’s Classic auction in Spokane.

The average price for all breeds of bulls was $1,713, well below last year’s average of $2,250 per animal.

The largest auction in the Northwest, Cowman’s Classic attracted 500 ranchers and breeders from four states and Canada who spent a total of $378,915 in the daylong event.

Charolais bulls were the breed that fetched most, averaging $2,240 for 10 bulls. Salers fared the worst, with an average price of $1,088.

The top-selling bull went for $3,600, only 63 percent of last year’s record-setting high of $5,700. The best seller was Top Man, a 1,161-pound champion Polled Hereford owned by Frank A. Rodgers & Sons of Castleford, Idaho.

Horses, which were on the auction block for the first time in the event’s 11 year history, fetched higher prices. The top horse went for $5,300. The average price of horses sold was not available Wednesday.

The eight work horses and ponies up for bid were part of an overall expansion of Cowman’s Classic, which this year featured commercial exhibits for cattle equipment.