In November 1968, Dr. Allan Dixon (a Calgary doctor with a ranch west of Nanton) bought 13 of SBL’s first crossbred calves right off their dams for the almost unheard of price of $500.00 each. That news item alone injected considerable interest in this new breed, building on the mounting interest generated at the Calgary Stampede the previous July when the Lacombe Research station had displayed a fullblood cow and calf. Canadian ranchers were beginning to be persuaded, but not in time to come within the 1968/69 import year. The 1968 permits for Simmental had already been issued—only 9 of them—with 8 going to SBL and 1 to Dr. Dixon. However, the next import year, would prove the first big Simmental year for breeders other than SBL. Finally, they were getting the picture—a picture soon enhanced when Dr. Allan Dixon’s first 7/8 heifer brought him $25,000.00.
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| news item from Cardston Alberta's local paper, Cardston Unlimited, Nov. 13, 1968 |
