The buzz of conversations, producers catching up and discussing genetics, fills the barn. As the hum dies down and attendees find their seats, the lights shine down on one special lady. The hands start flying as the ringmen take the bids. The flurry ends with a bang of the gavel as the auctioneer announces “Sold!” 

This will be the scene Jan. 10, 2025, at the National Angus Bull Sale in Oklahoma City, when Pollard Rita 4012 sells as the 2025 Angus Foundation Heifer Package female. 

The female has earned the coveted spot as the Angus Foundation Heifer Package female and will be a feature of the 2025 Cattlemen’s Congress.

“The heifer that we are offering has a great pedigree and an impressive EPD (expected progeny difference) profile,” says Barry Pollard of Pollard Farms. “She will immediately go into somebody’s operation and deliver on that. She is a great opportunity for an established breeder to buy a top-line female or for somebody new in the breed to start their herd with a foundation female.” 

This sale not only showcases top-tier genetics but also benefits the Angus Fund, supporting programs that shape the future of the breed, including Beef Leaders Institute, the Leaders Engaged in Angus Development (LEAD) conference and Angus University.  

“Pollard Farms has donated an exceptional female,” says Jaclyn Boester, Angus Foundation executive director. “This female will be a great asset to anyone’s herd, whether they are looking for phenotype or genomic enhancements, while supporting the Angus Fund.” 

The Angus Fund is a reserve of unrestricted assets to support the Angus Foundation’s mission of educational events for Angus breeders, scholarships and leadership development for youth as well as advancing the breed through research initiatives. The Heifer Package donation is the Angus Foundation’s top fundraising item for the Angus Fund each year, Boester notes.  

The lucky lady

Pollard Rita 4012 is a daughter of EXAR Cover the Bases 0819B and out of a productive, young 2-year-old that is “on her way to the donor pen,” Pollard explains. 

“I am honored to donate the Angus Foundation heifer. I think that it is a great opportunity for me to put a female out there that can raise money for the [Angus] Foundation and junior program,” he says. 

The dam of Rita 4012 is a first-calf heifer that comes from a long line of maternal genetics in the Pollard herd.  PF W34 Rita 4139 is an established donor in the Pollard program, and is a direct daughter of EXAR Rita U049, who came to Pollard Farms as the $62,000 half-interest from a past Big Event sale at Express Ranches.  

Rita 4012 is an elite donor prospect that exemplifies the phenotypic and numerical balance Pollard and his crew strive to produce. She ranks in the top 1% for $C , Marb, $G, $AxH and $AxJ; top 2% for $B and $W; top 5% for RADG; top 10% for WW, YW and HP; top 15% for CED, BW, PAP and $M; top 20% for RE;  and top 25% for CW and $F. 

“She has a great yearling weight and excellent carcass numbers. Her marbling and ribeye EPDs are high along with her carcass weight and good PAP scores,” Pollard says. “There are a lot of things about her that exemplify what we are trying to do here, and I am proud to offer her.” 

Her sire, EXAR Cover the Bases 0819B, is 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 sale. 

“He is a high-carcass and high-marbling bull with a great foot structure and great bone. As Jarold [Callahan] always said, ‘He is a different kind of marbling bull,’” Pollard says.

Pollard adds that the Angus Foundation has given so much to him and his family, and he is proud to offer this female representing genetics from the heart of his herd.  

“I hope everybody bids a lot of money, and they make a lot of money,” he says with a smile.