North Dakota Tour Group hosts 2006 National Salers Tour

The North Dakota Tour Group welcomes you to come to "The Gateway to the Old West" for the 2006 National Salers Tour, Oct. 5 to 7. You will not only want to visit some great North Dakota purebred and commercial ranches, but also see the Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park on your way! The Badlands.... some call it "The Land God Forgot," others call it one of the most mysterious and beautiful places on Earth, still others liken its rugged terrain and awe inspiring rock formations to a lunar landscape. No matter what one sees in the Badlands, one thing is for certain... "This broken country has been called always, by Indians, French voyagers, and American trappers alike, the Badlands." - Theodore Roosevelt.

For those wishing to take-in a riverboat ride on the mighty Missouri River, the tour activities will begin on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. (CT) in the breakfast room of the host motel, Bismarck Expressway Inn. This is your opportunity to take a unique ride on the river of Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea and Sitting Bull in elegance and comfort on the Lewis and Clark Riverboat for dinner. You won't want to miss this Missouri River cruise that won the 2006 North Dakota Tourist Attraction of the Year Award!

Bright and early at 7 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, the bus will be headed for MacDonald Ranches where breakfast will be served. After breakfast you will tour their "Performance Power Genetics" and see their prominent purebred Salers and Optimizer composite breeding program. See their potent herd sire lineup including MAC Navigator 281N, S Nebraska 330N, MAC Lennox 314L and Big Sky Triton 40R. Also featured at their tour stop will be a look at some of the great females of their breeding program such as BEV Emma 262E, MAC Black Flora 6F and MAC Jellybean 44J.

Lunch time will have already arrived when the bus pulls into Elm Creek Ranch in Hebron. Wilbert Opp and Stan Sayler will not only serve you a great lunch but display some of their top Salers genetics to add to your good cattle memory. Right when it's cat-nap time, your eyes will not want to close and miss out on a visit to some prominent commercial breeders as the buses wind their way through the Badlands of North Dakota towards RAO Ranch in Williston. There you will find that Roger and Helen Olson's "girls" are ready for you to view. Roger and Helen have been in the Salers business over 20 years and you will see why when you get a look at some of his good quality cattle that are easy-fleshing and thick-made with carcass traits bred through and through. The day will end with dinner at the RAO Ranch followed by a short bus trip into Williston to the International Inn where we will stay over Friday night.

Saturday, Oct. 7, will begin with a commercial stop before you reach Effertz Key Ranch in Velva for lunch. If you are lucky, you will get to see the whole Effertz family--Pat and Loretta, his wife, and their 13 children with their spouses and children. I am sure you will learn a lot from them and see some "High Impact" red and black purebred Salers and Optimiz third generation family. Your next stop is on to see The Bodine Brothers--Tom Henry and Rob Bodine, also in Velva. Don't miss seeing some of their great performance bulls, KEYS Top Dog 66K, Feists Mr Markus 05M, Bodine's Get-Er-Done 737P, MJB Powder Horn 212P, GGT P Jalopeno 126R, and HA Rembrandt R552.

You will be sure to have a grand time at the Feist Salers Ranch also in Velva, the closing tour stop. Dave and Michelle will show their great hospitality by serving you great food and showing you some of their high quality cattle you will not forget. You will not want to miss the heifer auc tion either! The North Dakota Tour Group purchased a heifer at the 2006 Midland Bull Test from the Montana/Wyoming Sal ers Association that Skinner Ranch, Hall, Mont., donated to the Montana/Wyoming Salers Association. This heifer, SRS Rico chet 0562R, is a 2005 January SRS Net work 0014N, daughter. She is A.I.'d to the second highest %IMF bull that MacDonald's have ever sold in their sale, MAC F1 Rain Dancer 4R. This bull sold for $9,500 in the MacDonald's Performance Power 2006 Sale. All the proceeds of this heifer go to the American Salers Junior Association. Don't miss adding this great heifer in your herd and supporting the Salers breeders of the future!

The tour buses will arrive back in Bismarck at the host hotels between 9 and 9:30 p.m. central time on Saturday night, completing the tour loop. If you're flying in for the tour, the Bismarck airport is located within five minutes of the host hotels and is served by Northwest and United airlines.

North Dakota is a beautiful, historic and scenic state. You may want to come early (or stay a little longer) and explore historic sites like Fort Mandan, a re-cre ation of the fort where the Lewis and Clark expedition spent the bitter winter of 1804-05 on their epic journey. Or visit Fort Abraham Lincoln and see the restored Custer house and fort that was home to General George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry before they left on their fatal march into Montana to the Battle of the Little Bighorn. There are lots of scenic and historic sites to visit. Come to North Dakota and stay awhile... after all, Custer was healthy when he left!

Date: 8/23/06

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