While attending the Cattlemen’s Congress at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays talked to Dr. Barry Pollard of Pollard Farms.
It’s been a good week for Pollard Farms. This past Wednesday, Dr. Pollard and his Ranch sold the lead off Bull in the Denim and Diamonds Angus Sale in Oklahoma City at Cattlemen’s Congress- and a 2/3 interest in the bull, PF Hennessey 3920, brought $265,000. That has proven to be the highest priced lot- bull or heifer- that has sold in a sale related to Cattlemen’s Congress in 2025.
Of particular pride for Pollard is his donation of a high-quality registered heifer that was auctioned off at the National Angus Bull Sale on January 10. As Lot 1, she was the only heifer sold in the sale.
The funds raised from the sale of the heifer will go to the Junior Angus Association as a donation to the Angus Foundation. “She is a high-quality heifer,” Dr. Pollard said. “I think she is probably the best Angus donation heifer that we have had in a long time. I look forward to that donation to help the youth, promote their education, and help the research at our association.”
POLLARD Rita 4012 is sired by EXAR Cover the Bases 0819B, a bull valued at $400,000 and owned by Pollard Farms and Express Ranches. Cover the Bases 0819B’s first calf crop was headlined by the $240,000 half-interest, top-selling, record-setting female at the 2023 Big Event at Express Ranches production sale.
“Rita’s” dam is a prolific two-year-old that comes from a long line of maternal genetics in the Pollard herd. PF W34 Rita 4139, a longstanding donor in the Pollard program, is a direct daughter of EXAR Rita U049, who came to Pollard Farms as the $62,000 half-interest, Lot 1 from a past Big Event.
The heifer raised $75,000 for young people involved with the Angus breed.
“I spent 10 years on the Oklahoma State University Foundation Board, so being part of foundations for youth has been a big part of my life,” Dr. Pollard shared. “I think it goes back to how I was treated as a young man. I’ll never that Kingfisher Bank paid the premium on my pig one time at the Kingfisher County Fair. Supporting the youth has been of particular importance to me.”
As far as the success of the Cattlemen’s Congress is concerned, now in its fifth year, Dr. Pollard believed in it from its first event. “We have good leadership in this state,” he said. “This was an idea of Jerold Callahan, a dear friend of mine, and he put together a great group of people, and our governor has supported this. They have made some improvements here at the fairgrounds.”
After the first Cattlemen’s Congress in 2021- Pollard says a poll was issued to all Angus breeders who attended year one asking if they preferred the event in Oklahoma City or the event it took the place of in Denver, the National Western Stock Show. Eighty percent preferred Oklahoma City over Denver.
“The breeds heavily support Cattlemen’s Congress. It is a convenient location for most people, and we don’t charge parking fees or a lot of other things, it is easy to get to and there are a lot of hotels and restaurants nearby. It is very accommodating to so many people,” Pollard said. “So, it has grown in the last five years and I think it will continue to grow.”
