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Beef Expo Commercial Heifer Sale will Feature VA Premium Assured Heifers
Livestock Update, February 2002
John B. Hall, Extension Animal Scientist, Beef, VA Tech
The 2002 VA Beef Expo Commercial Heifer Sale will sell only VA Premium Assured Heifers this year. The Commercial Heifer Sale Committee met in early January and adopted the VA Premium Assured guidelines. "Since most of the heifers sold the last few years at Beef Expo met VA Premium Assured requirements this was the next logical step", said Commercial Heifer Committee President Carl Lindgren. The committee also decided to require vaccination for vibrio and tests for TB to enable the heifers to be purchased by producers outside of Virginia.
The VA Premium Assured Program certifies that heifers have met minimum requirements for health program, physical structure, reproductive soundness, and genetic merit. Overall, buyers of VA Premium Assured Heifers have indicated a high level of satisfaction with the program. Bred heifers purchased from the program had only a 11% incidence of calving difficulty compared to the regional and national average for heifers of 18 to 25%. Over the past two years, VA Premium Assured Heifers brought $80-$95 more than non-premium assured bred heifers.
For more information about VA Premium Assured Heifers visit the VAPAH website at http://www.apsc.vt.edu/premiumheifers/index.html or contact Dr. John B. Hall at 540-231-9153 or jbhall@vt.edu. To consign heifers to the VA Beef Expo Commercial Heifer Sale contact Forrest Ashby at 540-992-1009.