2016 National Salers Tour
North Dakota - September 16-18
Friday, September 16
6 p.m. Salers Genetic Value Summit - Ramada Bismarck Hotel and Conference Center
Commercial Cattleman Panel - TBA
Utilizing Genomic Data in your Cowherd - Dr. Matt Spangler, University of Nebraska
Saturday, September 17
7 a.m. Leave the Ramada
7:30 – 9 a.m.
MacDonald Ranches - Breakfast - Bismarck
10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Elm Creek Ranch - Lunch - Hebron
2 – 4 p.m.
North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame - Medora
Walk around Medora
6:30 p.m.
7 – 10 p.m.
Arrive Hampton Inn - Williston
Sunday, September 18
Banquet - Hampton Inn
7:30 a.m. Leave Hampton Inn - Continental breakfast at hotel
8 – 9:30 a.m.
RAO Salers (light snack) - Williston
12:30 – 2 p.m.
Effertz Key Ranch - Lunch - Velva
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Feist Salers - Velva
4 – 6:30 p.m.
Bodine’s 9th Ave Cattle Company - Dinner - Voltaire
Level Above the Clouds Foundation Female Sale
6:30 p.m. Bus Departure to Ramada Hotel - Bismarck
REGISTRATION
Registration Deadline: September 1, 2016
$175 per person – $200 per person late registration
INDIVUDUALS BOOK ROOMS
Friday & Sunday Nights
Ramada Bismarck Hotel & Conference Center
1400 East Interchange Ave
Bismarck, ND 58501
Front Desk: 701-258-7000 or 1-800-554-7077
Reference ND Salers Tour-Cattlemen
QQ-$81 + tax or King $91 + tax
Saturday Night
Hampton Inn & Suites
1515 14th St W
Williston, ND 58801
701-774-5909
Reference National Ranch Tour Group
$89 + tax
Send registration fee along with registrant's name(s) and address to:
Debbie Weyer, 85 Kircher Road, Miles City, MT 59301
Make checks payable to: National Salers Tour
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Tour Stops
MacDonald Ranches
Our family has been in the seedstock business since
1939 when Jim MacDonald, son of the homesteading
Scotchman William, purchased his first registered Polled
Hereford. Producing and marketing Polled Hereford
seedstock was the main focus of the ranch for over four
decades. Salers first came on the scene in 1983. Bill and
Linda aggressively grew the Salers program and have
spent the last 30 years refining and advancing Salers
cattle. The MacDonald goal is to provide customers with
genetics that will maximize their profitability by allowing
them to produce the most pounds of calf weaned per cow
exposed with the least possible amount of labor input.
Today MacDonald Ranches is a Salers and Optimizer
Composite seedstock operation owned and operated by
Linda MacDonald and the Will and Jerilyn MacDonald
family including their three sons, Jerrod, Jayden and
Ty. They market 150-175 bulls annually to cattlemen
across the country through an annual Performance
Power Production sale held on the second Tuesday of
March each year. MacDonald’s host the Genetic Partners
Commercial Salers influence female sale each January
at Napoleon Livestock in Napoleon, ND. The Genetic
Partners sale enables MacDonalds to partner with
commercial customers to provide outstanding Salersinfluence breeding females for the commercial cow-calf
industry.
Elm Creek Ranch
Elm Creek Ranch is located 13 miles north of Hebron,
N.D. The ranch is owned and operated by Stan & Rebecca
Sayler, Joe & Jen Nelson and Casey Flemmer. The ranch
headquarters was the home place of Rebecca’s grand
parents and her father Wilbert Opp, a longtime breeder
of Salers Cattle.
Elm Creek is breeding and raising both Purebred and
Optimizer Salers cattle since 1983 and are strong believers
in performance testing and participants in the American
Salers Association ROE program with Elm Creek earning
First Place Performance Breeder of the Year for 2011,
2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 for cows herds larger than 50
head along with seven World Champion Pens of Bulls at
the Midland Bull Test.
The Ranch runs 280 registered cows, 20 registered
Sim-Angus cows, 100 registered Angus cows along with
125 bred heifers. All replacement heifers are artificially
bred through two heat cycles with the bulk of the cow
AMERICAN SALERS
herd artificially bred for one cycle. Typically Purebred
Salers cows are artificially bred to Angus sires and Angus
cows are bred to Purebred bulls. A disciplined approach
is used to breed the resulting half bred composite heifers
back up to purebred status. The cow herd is strictly culled
first upon fertility along with structure, performance and
disposition.
Elm Creek markets bulls at Midland Bull Test in
Columbus, Mont. and sells performance tested bulls along
with the Feist Family Salers at the Northern Exposure
Sale, Dickinson, N.D. at Stockman’s Livestock in March of
each year.
North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame was established in 1994. The
pursose was to explore the history of Native Americans,
ranching, rodeo and the western lifestyle of the
Northern plains horse culture. All of this is included in a
15,000-square-foot interpretive center which includes a
Hall of Honorees, theater, gift shop and open patio.
Medora, North Dakota
On the western edge of North Dakota with the
Badlands as its backdrop, sits the historic town of
Medora. This one of a kind town is better known as North
Dakota’s #1 tourist destination. Medora is surrounded by
breathtaking, unspoiled nature with Theodore Roosevelt
National Park acting as its backyard. Known for its
western culture, visitors will find this historic hub filled
with an endless array of activities and events for all ages.
Whatever your hobby may be, Medora has it all.
RAO Salers
RAO Salers is a fourth generation family operation
owned by Roger and Helen Olson with son Curtis and
daughter Karla. RAO Salers was established in 1980
with several females imported from Canada. As a meat
cutter, Roger became interested in the Salers breed
mainly because of the value that the Salers cattle has in
improving the carcass quality in crossbred calves and in
producing Choice and Prime Grades with yield grades of
1, 2's and 3's, which is acceptable to the cattle industry.
Other benefits that come with the breed are their calving
ease, strong maternal traits, balanced performance,
tremendous will to survive and keeping with good
disposition.
In the 36 years of raising Salers, the Olson family has
been satisfied with the functional qualities of Salers cattle.
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They plan on raising registered Salers cattle in the years to come. Join RAO in
April for their annual production bull sale featuring purebred and percentage
bulls.
Effertz Key Ranch
Effertz Key Ranch is a third generation cattle ranch located near Velva,
N.D. Gerald and Loretta Effertz started their seedstock business in 1959. All
of their 13 chirldren were involved in the family ranch growing up. Today the
primary operators are sons Roger, Kevin , Alan and son-in-law Bryan.
Currently, the ranch consists of about 250 Salers and Salers/Optimizer
cows, 60% black and 40% red. The Effertz operation has always pushed
for high performing cattle with low birth weights and easy disposition,
emphasizing structure and performance. We also ultilze DNA testing for
tenderness. It is the Effertz goal to enhance the customer selection process for
breeding purposes.
Feist Salers Ranch
Feist Salers Ranch is located in north central North Dakota near the
Souris River. They began breeding Salers cattle in the early 1970’s with the
importation of Jet, the first Salers bull imported into the Unites States, in
partnership with Effertz Key Ranch. They concentrated on producing maternal
cattle with performance and added depth of body. The ranch is currently
breeding approximately 400 Salers and Optimizer females. Feist Ranch
markets seedstock bulls each year in March at the Northern Exposure Sale in
Dickinson N.D. in partnership with Elm Creek Ranch.
The operation consists of the David Feist family, Neal and Brad Feist and
his family.
Bodine’s 9th Avenue Cattle Company
Rob, Brenda, Maddie Fay, Robert, and Payton make up Bodine’s 9Th
Avenue Cattle Company. The Bodine’s bought their first set of Salers cattle
from the Effertz Key Ranch 22 years ago. For the first 15 years Bodine’s
registered herd numbers fluctuated and the registered business was not a
main stay of the farm. In 2010, after making the decision to give the purebred
business a real shot, Bodine’s bought a pot load of registered cows from
Konow Farms. The next big move was in 2011 when Brenda bought Keys
Rockstar 95X. In the years since, good cattle have been bought from many
different breeders with larger numbers purchased from Z 7 Bar Ranch and the
Bear Ranch. You will find 28 different herd prefixes when looking a Bodine’s
herd inventory.
The Bodine cattle program is made up of primarily of high percentage
cows. They also have a small group of Fullblood cows and a small herd
of registered Angus cows. The main herd sire at Bodine’s has been Keys
Rockstar 95X. Rockstar calves have won blue ribbons in the showring, jackets
at Midland , earned huge premiums in the feed lot, and the big one, his
daughters are very good have very good udders and are highly productive
cows.
In March of this year, Bodine’s held their first production Sale.
The 2017 sale will be March 25, 2017, featuring the Sweet 16 heifers and
approximately 35 bulls.
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