Two Clarendon cattle breeders teamed up for the third iteration of a purebred Charolais bull sale on Mar. 10, packing the Renfrew Pontiac Livestock sales barn an hour ahead of its regular 1 p.m. sale. 

The auction was organized by Clarendon farmer Ron Hodgins of Ron-Way Livestock, who was joined by farmers Donna Courchesne and Andrew Simms of Valley Charolais. Together, the two farms sold 23 animals over the course of the hour – 15 from Ron-Way Livestock and eight from Valley Charolais. On top of Hodgins’ 11 bulls, he also brought four heifers to the sale, and only brought one home with him because he wasn’t happy with its selling price. 

Hodgins started the bull auction three years ago in an effort to create a more efficient way for he and other Pontiac farmers to sell their livestock, and to get the prices they’re looking for. 

At the time, livestock breeders were relying on private, on-farm sales to get their bulls to market. Hodgins said on-farm sales were time consuming, involved a lot of back and forth with potential buyers, and didn’t always guarantee him the best price. 

“You were on the barter system, and that got to be monotonous,” he said. 

Now in their third year of this event, he and Courchesne agree the sale is achieving Hodgins’ goal. 

“[Three years ago] I thought it was a great opportunity because before that, we were selling bulls just privately at home, mostly word of mouth, and we were only selling a few. So definitely this has been a great opportunity for us,” Courchesne said. 

In the first year of the sale, she and Simms only contributed two bulls. Last year they brought five, and this year they brought eight. She said the prices she’s gotten for her bulls have increased year over year. 

“Our program has been improving every year, so the quality of the bulls is getting better, and the prices are getting higher. I’m very happy with the progress we’re making. It’s going the right way.” 

Tuesday’s sale was the first in which Courchesne was announcing her own bulls, something she said she was a little nervous about but believes paid off. 

“I figure nobody knows your own bulls like yourself, so you should be the one explaining about them,” she said. 

This year all of Hodgins’ animals were sired using artificial insemination, which increases the accuracy of the promised genetic traits of the animal – one reason he believes his bulls brought in higher prices this year. 

“I can honestly say my bull yesterday that sold for $10,100 is the most money I’ve ever gotten for a bull,” Hodgins said. “It’s encouraging in the sense that I’ve gotten the best two prices I’ve ever had in my life here.” 

At last year’s sale, Hodgins hired a virtual live auction service that made it possible for potential buyers to partake in the sale even if they weren’t able to make it to the sale barn. 

But Hodgins found it too high a cost for the seven or eight people he said participated, claiming it was “the worst money [he’d] ever spent in [his] life.” 

Courchesne, however, believes it would be a good investment to grow the sale’s reach. 

“This is where we agree to disagree,” she said, acknowledging this is ultimately Hodgins’ sale, so defers to him on whether to use this technology or not. 

“I think the only way to grow is to extend your client base. I think having an online auction is the only way to do that. Otherwise we’re confined to just the local people who can actually come to our sale.” 

Both noted the potential growth within the local market is limited, as many cattle farmers are getting out of the business. 

“This year when cattle prices are as high as they are, lots of the old guys have quit,” Hodgins said. “If you’re 70 or 75 and cattle prices are good, and you’re thinking about retiring, guess what you’ve done. You’ve sold. So you don’t need a bull.” 

With this, Courchesne agreed. 

“There’s no need for us to ever have 50 bulls to offer right? There’s no use of trying to build [the sale] beyond what our market can bear.”