11/02/2022
Did you know Presort sales weren’t always the norm of the fall run at auction markets across Manitoba and Saskatchewan?
In the late 1980s Pipestone Livestock (sister market to Whitewood Livestock)held the first of these Presorted Sales. Rick Wright who was managing at PLS had seen a version of a showlist/Presort at some of the sales in Western Canada, and brought the idea forward to Pipestone Livestock owners Gene Parks and Jim Martin. Parks and Martin were always open and forward thinking, and told Rick that if he believed it was a method that would benefit the producers, then to go for it!
The first Presort consisted of approx 12-15 of the bigger cattle producer customers that Pipestone had, and included approx 1400 calves. The first “trial run” was a success and since that time Presorts have become a staple of the Livestock Markets across the prairies.
I am proud of our company’s involvement in originating the first Presorts took place in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Also another first that Pipestone had, was pen riders on horse back, something that Rick and Gene had seen in Montana and brought the idea back with them.
Pipestone Livestock was the original market to do what we all know today, as a staple of the fall run for the auction markets. Thank you to Rick Wright, along with Gene Parks and Jim Martin for your innovative forward thinking and willingness to try new things.
