June 3^rd and 4^th my wife Emily and I and several other members of the Select Sires family had the bittersweet experience of attending the dispersal of the historic Wehrmann Angus herd at New Market, VA. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed our time reminiscing with Richard McClung, managing partner of Wehrmann Angus, listening to him tell stories about the great cattle that were created at this beautiful place. Em and I arrived on Sunday afternoon before the Monday sale and after looking through the sale lots and visiting with guests we went fishing at the big pond behind Nick Wehrmann’s home where Brian House and I had fished over ten years ago when I was a Select Sires intern. By the way, I caught nothing and Emily caught a nice largemouth bass.

One of the special experiences of this trip was visiting the cattle cemetery where several Angus legends rest. The first to be buried there was Rita 5H11 of 1B14 Rito 9J9, dam of the great Select Sires power bull, Rito 9FB3 of Rita 5H11 “Fullback." In November 2011, two Angus greats were laid to rest side-by-side…GAR Precision 2536 and Rito 6I6. “2536” is the dam of another Select Sires power bull, GAR Gridmaker and the influential matron that appears in the pedigrees of most Wehrmann cattle produced in the last dozen years. Beside her lay the all-time high volume semen selling beef bull at Select Sires, Rito 6I6. This bull became known as one of the great cowmakers of his time and his presence in a pedigree, particularly on the dam side, garners the attention of good stockmen and adds value to cattle as much today as ever before. Adding to his superiority, 6I6 became known as one of the early trait leaders for docility. The dirt over their graves is still settling and the grass is yet to cover the broken earth (photo attached). Standing there I could feel the presence of my friend and mentor Roy Wallace, who had great influence in the Wehrmann breeding program over the years.

On sale day Richard was understandably melancholy and greeting him on sale morning was the hardest part for all of us. Once the sale started, the fruits of disciplined breeding and stacked pedigrees paid off. Impressive prices were fetched for all ages and classes of cattle and the volume of cattle being sold had little ill effect on bidding activity. On behalf of the entire Select Sires family, I want to thank Wehrmann Angus and Richard McClung for a great ride and a great relationship. And thank you to everyone who has purchased Select Sires semen produced from Wehrmann bulls over the years.

Wishing you a prosperous summer, Aaron Arnett