Mike
studied the bloodlines. He checked performance records. He knew his
herd like the top two layers of his tool box. He was a good young
cattleman. When he decided on the course of action to improve his herd’s
genetics, he called the breed association rep. They discussed his
needs. Plans were made for the fieldman to attend a bull sale in Texas
with the express instructions to buy exactly the right bull.
The call from Texas delighted
Mike. The fieldman had bought the perfect yearlin’ bull that would carry
Mike’s cows into the 21st century for $10,000 ... half interest. He
agreed that the co-owner, a purebred breeder from Oklahoma, could use
the bull that fall. Then he would ship him to Pine Ridge country of
northwestern Nebraska in time for Mike’s spring breeding.
In
February, arrangements were made to put the bull on the back of a load
going as far as Sterling, Colorado. The trucker would call Mike on
arrival.
Mike
waited anxiously. Several days passed and nobody called. He called his
partner only to find they’d left Oklahoma territory a week before!
Feeling uneasy, Mike called the Sterling sale barn. “No? No,” they
didn’t remember any bull. “Let us check.” They suggested possibly the
bull Mike was lookin’ for had been bought by a trader!
“What’d he pay?” asked Mike.
“Fifty-six cents a pound.”
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