Ratcliff Ranch “Right off the Ranch” Spring Production Sale Exceeds $1 M

Ratcliff Ranch’s Spring Production Sale featuring nearly 50 bulls and over 450 females, some with calves at side brought in a little over $1 million in sales during the Saturday April 6th sale.

The much-needed inch of rain didn’t dampen the spirit of the customers in attendance, even with a 15-minute rain delay of sale. The sale was speedy and lasted a little shy of two hours. Auctioneer Matt Sims of MCS Auction, kept the crowds hands high and often, especially during the spring calving pairs and heavy springers.

The high selling bull, RR Pioneer 0517 out of the great Shady Brook Ruth donor cow, rang the bell at $10,000 and sold to Fryin’ Pan Angus Ranch in Pawhuska, Okla. The 47 bulls averaged a little shy of $4,200; the SimAngus bulls averaged nearly $4,600.00/head.

“The demand for 18-month old SimAngus bulls was evident as they held high through almost the entire SimAngus sale,” Ratcliff Ranch Manager Heath Kohler said.

Hands down the most in demand and highest garnered offering were the spring calving cow-calf pairs and the heavy springers. With nearly one-third left to calve out the group averaged nearly $2,800 and the highest lots sold for $3,100 per cow/calf pair.

After just coming out of a drought in most of the region and not very much vegetation guaranteed this year, the price of our spring calving females was hard to believe. “It just made me wish we had consigned more spring pairs,” Kohler jokingly stated after coming off the sale block.

The ranch also offered a set of fall bred heifers ultrasound safe in calf (by sex) to its customers. This offering was a part of a study that the Ranch participated in with Genex and the University of Missouri. These 18-month-old heifers averaged $1,572/head and the open ready-to-breed heifers averaged $1,224/head.

“This is one of the best sets of commercial spring calving cows we have offered at our sale to our customers,” Ratcliff Ranch Owner Jim Ratcliff stated. “At 78, it is nice to have a set of cows sell that well following a drought and it speaks to the value of females in your herd at this time.”

The top 10 buyers at the sale, which was made up of both bulls and commercial female purchasers, were Stonehill Farms, Miami, Okla.; Gray Oaks Ranch, Wagoner, Okla; Wilmoth & Sons, Mt. Vernon, MO.; Motley Ranch, Drexel, MO; Fenske Farms, Monett, MO; Chris Harrall, Springdale, Ark; John Alleman, Quapaw, Okla.; Downing Cattle, Grove, Okla.; Jeffers Cattle Co., Wagoner, Okla.; and Dixon Cattle Company, Paola, Kan.