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STOCKTON, Mo. – “A full house saw a strong Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program sale on Nov. 21 at Joplin Regional Stockyards,” says Patrick Davis, University of Missouri Extension livestock field specialist. The sale saw 246 heifers sold from 13 consignors for an average price of $4,177 per heifer. This average was higher than the record average for this sale location in the spring 2025 sale, when 124 heifers sold for an average price of $4,010 per heifer. This sale totaled more than $1 million in sales, which is the highest total sales for an SMS sale at Joplin Regional Stockyards since the fall of 2014, when 521 heifers sold for an average price of $2,888 per heifer which is $1.5 million in sales.
A University of Tennessee guide reported that spring-calving heifers sold in November were 2.8 times the value of a 550-pound feeder heifer. When comparing the current sale bred heifer prices to feeder heifer prices in the previous week’s SW Missouri Weekly Summary Report from the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the average bred heifer value was 2.1 times the value of a 550-pound feeder heifer.
“An old and new consignor topped the sale,” says Davis. Longtime consignor John Wheeler of Marionville, Mo., had the highest average, where he sold 16 black, white-face Hereford/Angus cross heifers for an average price of $4,637 per heifer. The second-highest average price was by new consignor Cash Brown/Cross B4 Livestock, who sold 15 black Ultrablack cross heifers and three Red Angus cross heifers for an average price of $4,588 per heifer. Both consignors had the top selling lot at $4,800 per heifer. Wheeler’s lot was five head of Hereford/Angus cross black, white-face heifers artificially inseminated (AI) to an Angus bull. Brown’s lot was five head of Ultrablack cross black heifers AI-bred to an Ultrablack bull.
“The volume buyer was a previous SMS heifer sale consignor who bought his heifers via internet,” says Davis. Dale Rector of Rector Farms, Rogersville, Mo., was the volume buyer, purchasing 49 heifers via the internet. Rector has been a previous participant of the SMS program and last sold a heifer in the May 2022 sale at Joplin Regional Stockyards.
For more information on the SMS program or future program sales in southwestern Missouri, contact Davis at 417-276-3313 or davismp@missouri.edu; Andy McCorkill, 417-345-7551 or mccorkilla@missouri.edu; or Ian McGregor, 417-466-3102 or ian.mcgregor@missouri.edu.