Staff at the Williams Lake Stockyards are busy this week getting ready to welcome ranchers from across Western Canada for the 79th annual Williams Lake Bull Show and Sale.
“It’s a long standing tradition and to be a part of it is special,” said Wilf Smith, regional manager for the BC Livestock Producers Co-Op.
This year, buyers will have their pick of 157 top quality, purebred bulls and 10 red angus replacement heifers which are set to be auctioned off to the highest bidder starting at 11 a.m. Friday.
Bulls — ranging in breeds from herefords and angus to gelbvieh, simmental and charolais — began arriving Tuesday afternoon at the stockyards where a sifting committee made up of one veterinarian and three cattlemen were on hand to inspect all the animals for any defects.
“Buyers feel confident they’re getting a good bull here … we’re looking forward to another great sale. These animals are the best of the best,” Smith said.
Smith expects prices to be good for the sale, with bulls averaging between $4,500 and $5,500 so far this year.
“The market place today is still hanging in there but prices aren’t quite what they were last October.”
For retired ranchers Leona and Jim Wright, the Williams Lake Bull Show and Sale is about much more than just the sale.
“We’re back because we missed it,” Leona said, as the Aldergrove couple readied their bulls for the sale Tuesday.
Jim said they’ve been coming to the show and sale as sellers since 1968, but haven’t for the last five years after retiring.
When two of their neighbouring farms — Coppertone Farms and North Bluff Farms –—needed someone to bring their animals to the sale, the couple jumped at the chance to come back.
“It’s a beautiful place to come visit,” said Jim. “And I like to come meet up with the old-timers.”
“It’s a way of life and when you don’t do it for a while you miss it,” added Leona.
An agricultural display located outside the main office has also become a tradition at the event, where many businesses will be on hand to showcase the latest in agriculture products.
And of course there is the bull show, which gets underway Thursday at 1 p.m. followed by a social for buyers and sellers at the Williams Lake Curling Club that evening.
Smith said the bull show and sale is the biggest bull sale in B.C. and one not to miss.
“Everybody is welcome to come check it out,” he said.
Also born from the ranching industry is the 26th annual Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo, which starts Friday evening and runs throughout the weekend with the final rodeo starting Sunday at 1 p.m.
