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History
On April 22, 1971, a group of enthusiastic Saskatchewan
Simmental Breeders met in Regina to create their first Provincial
Association. The Association started off with a membership of 77. By-laws
were approved and directors elected. The first President was Edgar
Mapletoft of Frenchman Butte, the Vice-President was Cyril Ross of Estevan
and the Secretary-Treasurer was Leroy Berry of Carievale. Membership
increased rapidly to 320 members.
The Saskatchewan Simmental Association (SSA)
immediately became involved in live displays at summer fairs and sponsored
the first sale at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. Three years later,
history was made when 116 lots sold for just under 1.25 million dollars at
the Agribition sale.
The First Simmental show at Agribition was sponsored
in 1976. The show continued to grow and over 400 head of Simmental cattle
were displayed every year for several years. In 2005, over 250 head of
purebred and fullblood cattle were on display and the quality of the cattle
was exceptional
The People’s Choice Bull Show was added in 1994
to promote Simmental Bulls and to keep Simmental and the SSA at the
forefront of the beef industry. Calendar year bull calves were nominated
and then judged by gold and silver membership holders. Twenty eight bulls
competed for the right to be the “People’s Choice” and compete for a jackpot
of over $10,000! Seventy-five judges appraised the three classes of bulls,
all scoring cards were tabulated and a championship class was determined.
Before the championship class was announced, a name was drawn from all Gold
and Sliver level memberships. EDN Simmentals, of Maple Creek, SK. was the
winner of a half interest and full possession of a bull of their choice from
all twenty-eight bulls in the show. They selected a bull exhibited by Sunny
Valley Simmental, Wayne & Linda Libke, Hanley, SK. Wayne and Linda received
a $12, 530.00 jackpot. The People’s Choice Grand Champion also went to the
Libke’s. The grand champion bull received $1000.00 and the Reserve
Champion, exhibited by EDN Simmental, and received $500.00.
In 2005, the People’s Choice Bull show was changed to the
Pick of the Barn. The Pick of the Barn has a similar format to the
People’s Choice except exhibitors are allowed to enter bulls and females off
all ages and the show takes place in the Simmental Barn amongst the cattle.
Anyone can purchase a membership and their name is entered in for various
prizes and the chance to win their “Pick of The Barn” of the nominated
animals. The owner of the selected animal receives $10,000!
A Scholarship Fund was started in 1999 and is
available to SSA member’s children. The scholarships are available to
students entered in post-secondary education; his/her parents must be
current SSA members and have been so for more than one year. Applications
for scholarships are due October 1st of each year and are
available from the SSA office. Since its inception, the SSA has awarded
over 50 scholarships!
The Scholarship Fund is funded by the Scholarship Donation
Heifer. A current year heifer calf is donated to the SSA and is auctioned
off by Dutch auction at Agribition. Past donation heifers and winners
include:
1999 – Donated by Storebo Farms, Beechy,SK
Won by Crossroad Farms, Shell Lake, SK
2000 – Donated by Damion Star, Grenfell, SK
Won by Lewis Farms, Spruce Grove, AB
2001 – Donated by Boggy Creek Simmentals, Melville, SK
Won by Bruce McFadyen, Wawesca, SK
2002 – Donated by Forden Fairview Farm, Punnichy, SK
Won by Richard Kulyk
2003 – Donated by Spring Creek Simmentals
Won by 3D Simmentals
2004 – Donated by X-T Simmentals, Eastend, SK
Won by Arden Simmentals
2005 – Donated by Windmill Simmentals, Moosomin, SK
Won by Lazy Bar B Simmentals, Lucky
Lake, SK
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