The 15th Florida Bull Test was conducted at the University of Florida North Florida Research and Education center in Marianna. There were 103 consignments from 33 consignors from Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. There were 46 Angus, 4 Braford, 4 Brahman, 10 Charolais, 2 Hereford, 3 Red Angus, 16 SimAngus, and 18 Simmental consignments born between August 15 and December 31 of 2013. Bulls were delivered in late July and initiated their 112-day test on August 19, 2014. The last day of test was December 10, 2014. In addition, a hallmark of the Florida Bull Test is that individual feed intake is assessed to establish feed efficiency. At completion of the test the entire group of bulls averaged 3.38 pounds of gain per day, but ranged from 2.21 to 4.59 pounds per day.
Activities with the Bull Test conclude with a sale to be held on Saturday, January 17, 2015. For the first time ever, buyers will even be able to bid on bulls through the Internet, which will be facilitated by a company called Cattle in Motion. They do require buyers to pre-register and create an account prior to the sale. To participate in the sale, the computer used will also require up-to-date version of the Adobe Flash Player software. So if getting to the sale location is an issue for participation in the auction, there is a now a tool that allows bidders to participate online.
Only bulls meeting specific benchmarks are eligible for the sale. In addition, bulls are inspected for structural soundness and disposition and must pass a breeding soundness exam to qualify for the sale. Additional information, such as actual performance data, expected progeny differences (EPDs), and carcass ultrasound data are available for bull buyers to aid in the selection of excellent quality bulls to purchase.
Source:ufl.edu