ECA Review 2021-02-25

Mappin 16th Annual
Simmentals & Silver Smith Farms
Call Maureen @ 403-321-0501
or Eric @ 403-820-6599
View catalogue and videos online at
www.mappinsimmentals.com
Bull Sale
On the Farm Byemoor, AB
March 6, 2021 • 4pm
Breeders’ SectionECA Review,
Page 11
Red Rock Red Angus, Beiseker Red Angus,
a staple in Canadian breeders community
Terri Huxley
ECA Review
The history of Beiseer Red Angus
started over 50 years ago and within
that time the families of Schmaltz and
Brigan have made a substantial
impact on the Canadian Red Angus
community.
In 1971 Peter and Maxine
Schmaltz decided on purchasing
more cows.
They already had Black
Angus but wanted to start a
purebred herd.
They had lots of help from
their children Kim, Karen and
Mark Brigan, being all still at
home, so they decided to try
something different by buying
Red Angus although at that
time there were very few Red
Angus breeders in Canada.
In the beginning, they used artificial
insemination (A.I.) and
transplanting embryos on their better
cows mostly.
In 1980, they started to slow down on
the A.I.ing and went in search of a
breeding bull to use for natural
breeding.
Their search led them to Premier
Breeders in New York where they
bought into a syndicate on a bull
called PREMIER PATRIOT 16.
This bull has laid the foundation of
the Schmaltz herd.
Beiseker Red Angus bought the
bull’s walking rights and a percentage
of semen sales.
It was later sold to Don and Vickie
Conway.
The semen from this ‘female maker’
bull is still used today at Beiseker Red
Angus & Red Rock Red Angus to flush
cows to produce embryos.
They are currently using a son of
his on the cows and many of the current
breeding females will have his
breeding somewhere in their pedigree.
“His female’s udders were perfect,
the feet are great. Temperament is
wonderful and they have lots of milk
and a lot of the cows have done well
also but we found Premier Patriot has
laid down the foundation for what a
female should be,” said Karen.
At the same time as securing
Premier Patriot 16, the family started
to show their cattle.
The main bull show at that time for
Red Angus was the Red Round Up in
central Alberta.
PREMIER PATRIOT 16
They won Grand Champion twice
there with RED BRA DOUBLE
EXPOSURE 51R in 1983 and with RED
BRA FIRE CRACKER 33X in 1988.
In 1985, they also took home Reserve
Champion with RED BRA RED
WHEEL 33T.
Their most thrilling show was in
1983 when a bull calf called RED BRA
FIRST CLASS 13R went on to win
Grand Champion at the Denver Stock
Show in Denver, Colorado; coming out
of the show on top with an undefeated
three-year-old.
In 1988, Beiseker Red Angus & Red
Rock Red Angus were nominated by
their peers, winning Breeder of the
Year.
Over the years they have sold bulls,
females and embryos all over to the
world including Denmark, South
Africa, Argentina, Australia and the
U.S.A.
In the beginning, bulls were sold
with the Red Angus Breeders of
Canada as the number of breeders
was limited at that time and even
fewer produced Red Angus bulls.
Several breeders together sold their
bulls at a one-day sale and then as the
numbers grew two bull sales evolved.
As the breed grew so did their herd
numbers large enough to have a sale
of their own combined with Dee Lee
Red Angus (daughter, Karen),
Lumont Red Angus and RRH Red
Angus.
They decided where to have their
first sale in 1990.
They wanted an area that was
known for having large numbers of
cattle combined with no other Red
Angus bull sales at that time.
Cereal Auction Mart in Cereal, Alta.
was decided to be central.
The same year, the first Prairie
Grass Red Angus Bull Sale was held.
All of the kids had left home while
Pete and Maxine decided to slow down
a little so in 1994 they decided to take a
back seat and join forces with Red
Rock Red Angus (daughter, Karen
and son-in-law as well as John Brigan
and Jim and Laurie Brigan).
In 1997 Prairie Grass Red Angus
Bull Sale, which was composed of both
Red Rock Red Angus and Beiseker Red
Angus, moved to Schetzle Livestock in
Veteran, Alta.
The bull sale was held there until
2010 when the difficult decision was
made to move closer to home near
Airdrie.
“Online sales were beginning to
take hold so moving closer to home
meant the bulls would not have to be
trucked but would still be available for
our loyal customers in the east to be
able to bid and view online,” said
Karen Brigan.
They asked Mark Shologan of DLMS
to help them move from a live sale to a
virtual sale as the facility was not
equipped for a live ring sale.
The family producers noticed the
stress on the bulls during sale day was
immensely reduced and the weights
remained stable so they knew they
had made the right decision.
In 2018 another decision to go to a
private treaty sale was made.
This transition could not have come
at a better time as with the COVID-19
pandemic taking place, the cattle producers
were well equipped to handle
this newer form of purchasing.
Turn to People, Pg 13
Peter and Maxine decided to slow down a little so in 1994 they decided to take a back seat and join forces with Red Rock Red Angus (daughter,
Karen and son-in-law) as well as John Brigan and Jim and Laurie Brigan. From the left, Peter and Maxine, John and Karen Brigan, Jim and
Laurie Brigan.On Feb. 23, 2021, it was Peter and Maxine’s 64th wedding anniversary.
ECA Review/Schmaltz & Brigan families