Land Grant SETTING A NEW RECORD

BY: TAYLOR DIEBALL

a Hereford heifer, Miss Beau Real 7th 30781. In 1976 K-State exhibited Manhattan Gal and won multiple national Angus shows. With the success of Manhattan Gal, McKee started the first annual Special “K” sale on Dec. 3, 1977.

McKee had the vision to allow students to gain real-world experience through a hands-on marketing class. K-State was the first institution to offer a class in sale management. The sale started as a three-year rotation between the Angus, Simmental and Hereford breeds.

The Special “K” Sale was hosted in conjunction with the Little American Royal. Students were assigned a sale bull to exhibit during the competition and once the show was over, the bulls would be tied outside of Weber Arena and walked into the sale ring later that evening. In 2008, the Special “K” Sale was renamed the Legacy Sale to honor 127 years of continuous beef improvement.

Land Grant was the feature lot in the 2022 Legacy Sale and is the prodigy of KSU Misty 956 ET, which was an embryo donated by Kevin Jensen and family of Courtland, Kansas.

“We decided to flush 956 to Genesis, as he is one of the hottest young sires within the breed. I like the calves he had been siring both phenotypically and genotypically. With his semen being higher priced, we took the chance on a bull that we thought would complement her well and it paid off,” says Shane Werk, K-State Purebred Unit's herdsman.

Nichols adds, “I must give Shane Werk the credit for creating Land Grant and helping him get to sale day. He made the mating choices that worked and created the best bull that K-State has ever raised.”

K-State ASI graduate Kyle Perez of Perez Cattle Co. summarizes, “The public reception of Land Grant has been nothing but exceptional. He should have a positive impact within the Hereford breed and commercial cattle operations. Being homozygous polled, having 100% pigment and having that impressive genetic script will generate influence throughout the country.”