PRICES: King of the Herd

PRICES King of the HerdAt the Switzer and Field ranch near Gunnison, Colo, last week, a square, squat, five-year-old Hereford with the resounding name Baca Prince Domino XX, was led into the auction ring in front of 3,000 spectators. When Veteran Auctioneer Art W. Thompson started his singsong chant, the price climbed like a V-2—to $77,800. Art Thompson paused. “I’m not gonna ask you fellas to buy a $77,000 bull on the spur of the moment,” said he. “I’m gonna give you a minute to think it over.” Then in less than a minute he brought down his hammer. The final bid: $87,500, highest price ever paid for a Hereford bull.

The buyer was A. H. Karpe, a California rancher and farm-implement dealer who two years ago bought another Baca Grant bull for a record $65,000. Domino XX brought the record price because he is what cattlemen call prepotent, i.e., his plentiful offspring are as potent as their old man. With meat prices sky-high (see col. 3), cattlemen were willing to pay sky-high prices to improve their herds.