End of an Era: SBL Dispersal Sale ~ 1981

On April 21, 1981 SBL had a dispersal sale in Calgary, Alberta as the "old" shareholders were selling the company to three new owners: Ken Bester, Jerrold Amonson, and Dennis Bumanis. Simmental Country magazine reported on the event in the July 1981 issue where the dispersal summary and SBL "Thank You" were printed.

The three buyers of the SBL company are pictured at the bottom of this page (page 20)
of the Simmental Country magazine, July 1981, and other cattle buyers at the dispersal are listed on page 21

In one of their first promotional flyers (“Simmental Breeders TAX PROGRAM”), the buyers of the SBL company described themselves as:

“Mr. Dennis Bumanis has been a resident of Southern Alberta for over three decades. A preoccupation for many of those years has been the operation of the family ranch located in the southern part of the province. Dennis was first exposed to Simmental cattle in 1972 and has been associated with the breed ever since. Mr. Bumanis is a director of Simmental Breeders Limited as well as Universal Semen Services and has been very active in the Alberta Financial environment as a mortgage and loan company executive. The Bumanis family, three children and wife Peggy reside on an acreage at Millarville, Alberta.”

“Mr. Jerrold Amonson has been an Alberta resident for 18 years and over the past 15 years has been very active in the Land Development and Construction Industry. Jerrold is President of Investors Development Corporation Limited and a Director of several other firms active in the Calgary market. Mr. Amonson’s agricultural involvement extends beyond his principal role in Simmental Breeders Limited and Universal Semen Services to the initiation of a major Canadian Dairy Herd with the acquisition of the herd’s first seed stock holsteins. The Jerrold Amonsons, wife Joanne and son Johnathan, live on an acreage at Bearspaw, west of Calgary.”

“Mr. Ken Bester, a native Albertan was born in Fort Macleod. Since 1974 Mr. Bester’s agricultural holdings have been centered in Alberta and Saskatchewan. To remain current and to optimize returns on his agricultural investments Ken has broadened his knowledge with courses in cattle nutrition and farm management. Besides being a director of Simmental Breeders Limited and Universal Semen Services Mr. Bester is active in land investment and the management of mortgage portfolios. Today Ken and his wife Marlene raise quarter horses on their acreage near Dewinton, Alberta.”

2.07: Spreading the Simmental Word (& Semen)

(From Chp. 2 ~ 1967, titled "The Dream Lives," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)

With Parisien, the only Simmental (Pie Rouge) bull in North America, beginning his final stage of quarantine in Alberta (April to July 1967) the SBL men became intent on getting the word out; and with A.I. being the only way to get Simmental spreading rapidly throughout North America, semen collection began almost immediately. Don Jensen, a local A.I. technician, did the collection until shortly after the on-farm quarantine ended when Parisien was moved to Prairie Breeders (PB) near Calgary—the first company contracted to handle semen collection and distribution.¹

Inspection Certificate releasing Parisien from Canadian on-farm quarantine

Travers wrote:

Our first objective in bringing Simmental to this country was to improve our own herds, but after the first bull had arrived we saw the great potential of spreading the breed further through artificial insemination. After some discussion, our group decided to use the personal contact method to tell the story. We had received many pictures on slides from Switzerland of their cattle. We made a slide presentation with a lecture to go along with it and then made our contacts with the A.I. units’ field representatives to set up meeting in different areas. As we progressed with this program, the press and agricultural periodicals gave us good coverage and so the story was spread also by this means.²

It soon became evident that the United States was going to be SBL’s best market so SBL went looking for additional organizations to handle the distribution of Parisien's semen. By October 1967, Curtiss Breeding Service in Cary, Illinois was contracted to handle the U.S. distribution of the frozen semen collected by PB.

Of this beginning promotion, Travers wrote:

The Curtiss representatives met me first at Sioux City, Neb. and our first meeting was at O'Neill. The second showing was given the following morning in a ranch house on a refrigerator door. The rancher was immediately sold and ordered enough semen to cover his whole herd. / Excitement continued to follow us as we told our story from place to place through Nebraska and South Dakota and the on to Billings, Mont., where we attended the annual meeting of the Montana Beef Performance Association. We were well received there by 30 or 40 members of that association in a quickly called meeting in a room at the hotel.³



early interest expressed in a letter to
betterbeefbusiness, January 1968


SBL's first sheaf of promotional information was an 11 page, legal-size, Swiss-generated compilation of facts, figures, and sales pitch for the Simmental breed called, "The Simmental Story." There were no glossy pictures, just that lengthy, type-written summary. Swiss Cattle Federation brochures were also used for a time.

And of course, as soon as it was possible, the SBL men began breeding their own cattle to Parisien. They knew the proof would be in the progeny.

Subsequent Semen distributors: By the time the second group of imports had arrived (Spring 1968), B.C. Artificial Insemination Centre at Milner, BC (BCAI) and Western Breeders Service Ltd. at Balzac, Alberta (WBS) had also been contracted. In early 1970, Parisien was moved from PB to WBS at Balzac.

Over the next few years, several other breeder services would also become distributors for SBL including: ABS of DeForest, WI; Carnation Breeding Service of Carnation, WA; Cache Valley Breeding Association of Logan, UT; and KABSU of Manhattan, KS.

And during the many long months when Parisien began the promotional tour-circuit, mostly in the U.S., his handler (and SBL's first employee), the A.I. technician, Don Jensen, made the many arrangements to keep collection and distribution flowing steady.

--------------/
1. In 1969, the price per vial for Parisien was listed at $10.00.
2. Simmental Shield, October 1970, p. 9
3. From pp. 9-10 of BTS notes as published in Simmental Shield, October 1970, pp. 8-10

1.15: Parisien ~ payment

(From Chp. 1 ~ 1966, titled "Foundation Work," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)

Under date of 28 September 1966, Travers was advised by S.E.P.A. that his first choice, Parisien, had passed all on-farm tests and had been moved to the Brest Quarantine station on September 25. The amount paid to S.E.P.A. on Oct. 21, 1966 by Travers and his associates was 16,500 fr. with a Canadian currency equivalent of $3,630.00. The reasons for the adjustment from the invoice amount of 17.500 fr. were set out in Travers letter to S.E.P.A. of Oct. 18, 1966 and related to costs associated with the 2nd replacement bull calf that did not enter the testing program.

By October 1966, the 244 Charolais and the one Simmental (Pie Rouge) had successfully completed their Brest tests and under the watchful eye of the Charolais Association were readied for shipment by cattle boat for an eight day passage to Grosse-Ile, Quebec to begin the third stage of processing.

(There appears to be a typo in the S.E.P.A letter: the adjustment of 100 Frs. was probably meant to read 1000 Frs.)

S.E.P.A. Contract ~ Parisien (August 6, 1966)

Note: there is a prior document also dated 6 August 1966, but unsigned by the parties that shows a "Farm Price" of 15.000 Frs for Parisien and 14.000 Frs each for the alternates, but the price was negogiated upwards to that shown on the signed document. The reasoning is explained in Tavers' letter of Oct. 18, 1966 to be posted hereafter: post title, "1.15: Parisien ~ Payment."

Hobart F. Peters ~ 1964 Report

Scanned images of pages 21-22 of Hobart F. Peters' report "of travels in Europe studying animal breeds in 1964" that Travers read in January 1966 and which began the Simmental adventure.

Hobart F. Peters ~ 1965 Letter & Report

Scanned images of Hobart F. Peters' March 25, 1965 letter and report sent to Travers Smith which sparked Travers' initial interest in Brown Swiss.