If you are looking for a quality bull for your herd, look no further than the 79th annual Indiana Beef Evaluation Program bull sale. It happens on Thursday, April 20, at 6 p.m. EDT. The sale will occur at the Springville Feeder Auction facility 10 miles northwest of Bedford.

These are the top-indexing bulls from the 2016 winter bull test conducted at the IBEP bull test station at the Feldun-Purdue Ag Center, also located near Bedford. Brad Shelton manages the bull test station.

Bulls are on test for 90 days, and are evaluated for a number of traits, including average daily gain and a several performance traits.

Terry Stewart in the Purdue University Animal Sciences Department also works with the IBEP. He helps figure out indexes for the bulls, which are figured on performance and expected progeny differences.

Bulls are assigned an index number on a system where average is 100. The top-indexing bull in this test scored better than 121. Some bulls in the sale may not score as well as others, but they may still have desirable traits that fit an operation.

To enter the test, the bull owner pays $250 per animal. Not all bulls on test are allowed to sell. Shelton expects about 130 of the 217 on test to meet requirements. To be in the sale, a bull must be one of the top-indexing bulls in its breed.

If you can’t attend the sale in person, there are other options to view and participate. It will be broadcast live on dvauction.com. There are also two remote sites where you can watch the sale live and bid. They are the Beck Ag Center at Purdue in West Lafayette and the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Rochester. Call Karen Mitchell at 765-474-0793 for the West Lafayette site or Mark Kepler at 574-223-3397 for Rochester.

A sale catalog is available online: ansc.purdue.edu/ibep. You can call the bull test station at 812-279-8554. The sale-day phone number is 812-279-1282.