Functional Cattle Summered in the Mountains

About “Pot of Gold”

In 1990, five Gelbvieh breeders: Covington Gelbvieh, Bow K Ranch, Figure 3 Ranch, Indian Head Gelbvieh, and Mill Iron Lazy V Ranch got together to discuss the possibility of starting an annual bull sale. (Prior to this, all of the breeders were selling their bulls private treaty.) Our goal was (and still is) to breed the best quality and functional cattle possible and to stand behind what we sell.

The first “Pot of Gold” Gelbvieh Bull sale was held in February of 1991 in Montrose, Colorado. There has been a lot of give and take to make the sale a long-time success, as we are in our 21st year together.

The first step our group took was to set up the criteria to evaluate bulls: birth weight, weaning weight, strong EPD’s, eye appeal, and average daily gain. Each of us look at cattle differently, but with a set of minimum standards in place it makes the culling process easier.

Every year we all work the bulls together — throughout the bull development test, sale day, and after the sale. All the bulls are co-mingled the first part of October and after a month we begin weighing the bulls and continually culling animals. Starting in January and February all the testing begins — P.A.P., fertility, trich, and PI-BVD.

Each year after the sale, we re-evaluate what our customers are looking for and how we can meet their needs. Over the years we have implemented changes to be progressive and still keep our high quality standards. This includes new tests — trich, PI-BVD, and Igenity® Carcass Composition (DNA) — and adding Balancers and Angus to compliment our sale and to meet the challenges of the industry. We have been selective in the Angus and Gelbvieh consignors that we have brought on board so that our bull offering will continue to be of high quality. We value your opinions, so please let us know how we can better serve you.
 

Looking over the catalog before the sale.	Buyers checking out the bulls before the sale.