30 YEARS AND COUNTING
VISALIA LIVESTOCK AND "CATTLEMEN'S SELECT" BULL SALE MARK A MILESTONE by Managing Editor Stevie Ipsen Growing up immersed in the livestock marketing, Col. Randy Baxley, Visalia, says he was always involved in the family marketing business in one way or another. From bidding on sale lots at Templeton Livestock Market after class at Cal Poly to working at the sale barn when he wasn't calf roping at a rodeo, Baxley always enjoyed the livestock marketing way of life that runs three generations deep with his dad and grandfather. But after the coaxing of longtime friend Richard Stober, Baxley said he decided to take the plunge of going in to the auction business himself. After watching his father as an owner and auctioneer at the Templeton Auction Yard for many years, going into the business himself provided few surprises. “Many people enter a career and know the upsides but few of the downsides,” Baxley said. “For me, I knew full well there would be some storms to weather but it has paid of for me and my family in many positive ways.” In 1994, at the ripe age of just 25, Baxley and his wife, Beth, started their journey as owners and operators of Visalia Livestock Market. Right out the gate, Baxley had plans to continue the bull sale that had previously been held at the sale barn for many years. While auctioneering wasn’t new to Baxley, managing a bull sale was. Fortunately, he knew a tried and true method of supplying quality bulls for his customers, a goal he still holds paramount at the "Cattlemen's Select" Bull Sale today, 30 years later. "The phenotypic value of a good bull remains the same as it was then and that is still what I focus on most when seeking out bulls for our annual sale," Baxley said. "But now we also have the added benefit of EPDs to help us in selection. Bulls with a
34 California Cattleman September 2024
well-rounded set of data to back up their physical structure is what buyers can count on finding at our bull sale." In 1994, with the exception of a few big seedstock operations, most purebred cattle producers sold their bulls via consignment sales. Most of the consignment sales were open to anyone, but Baxley's model of selecting bulls for the sale is what his buyers and consignors say sets Visalia's sale apart. Having seen the success of a select consignment sale at the Templeton sale barn, Baxley knew it might take more homework throughout the year, but that it would be a successful method of marketing for his customers, while still providing a variety of benefits to consignors. Also in 1994, Greg Furtado, a long time Angus breeder from Turlock, planned to not consign bulls to the Visalia bull sale event. At that, time Furtado consigned nearly 60 bulls in Stockton, Templeton, Visalia and Famoso and decided he was going to focus on fewer sales, and Visalia was the one he ...CONTINUED ON PAGE 36