An era has passed in the dairy industry.
Last Friday, Texas County residents Richard and Shirley Best marked the end of a lengthy and prosperous career in the field by hosting a complete herd dispersal sale at their Best Sunrise Dairy east of Houston.
About 400 dairy farmers and enthusiasts from 14 states were in attendance, creating a sea of stock trailers in the parking area and a standing-room-only situation in the sale tent, as 216 head of Registered Holsteins were auctioned by the staff of Burton and Associates, out of Berryton, Kan.
A strong and consistent demand throughout the sale resulted in an average price of $1,580 per cow, with one bringing $3,100 and 21 others selling for $2,000 or more. The high seller was a yearling purchased by a buyer from Okowville, Ill.
“We had a wonderful sale,” Shirley said. “It couldn’t have been any better for the situation, with the economy and the drought and everything,”
The event wasn’t without its unexpected moments. An auction ringman was injured when he yelled out to signify a bid and a heifer in the ring kicked the side of his leg, breaking his ankle.
“He went down and sort of passed out,” Shirley said. “We had a little excitement and had to stop the sale for a while and call an ambulance.”
Thanks to an ordering situation that led to all their cattle wearing pink ear tags, the Bests decided to associate the sale with Breast Cancer Awareness month and a spot was set up where people could make donations.
“That worked out really well, too,” Shirley said. “We were able to collect quite a bit of money.”
An article posted on the Dairy Agenda Today website (www.dairyagendatoday.com) praised the Bests’ careers and speculated about what led to the success of their dispersal sale. Part of it read: “The Best Sunrise dispersal was like a scene from the past and we have to ask ourselves: why? Why was this sale so successful when other sales this year have fallen short of expectations? The answer may be what many feel is missing in our industry today: integrity and credibility. Dairymen from across the country flocked to Houston, Missouri to buy a piece of that herd and to take home with them a ‘piece’ of the integrity that Shirley and Richard Best have stood for from day one forward. This is the added value of Registered Holsteins – the integrity and credibility that goes with every animal represented by registration certificate and the names on that certificate. Today 216 people can add their name alongside Shirley and Richard Best’s and continue the reputation of integrity and credibility with their Best Sunrise purchases.”
“I thought that was pretty neat,” Shirley said.
The Bests have both spent most of their lives in dairy farming, and started farming together with a single Registered Holstein in 1980. But now that their barns are empty, they’ll move on with their lives without dairy matters to tend to.
“I can hardly look toward the barn now,” Shirley said. “But being told about our integrity and credibility that way makes us feel like we really did go out on top.
“We’re just at a point in our lives where we didn’t need that stress any more. It was planned, we stuck to the plan, and we went out the best way possible.”