Start Selecting 2026 Illinois Performance Tested Sale Bulls

By Travis Meteer

Seedstock breeders should be identifying bulls they plan to consign to the 2026 Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale. The IPT Bull Sale is the leadoff event for the annual Illinois Beef Expo in Springfield. The sale is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, in the Artisans Building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The sale accepts older as well as younger bulls, with a birth date range from Jan. 1, 2024, through March 2025.

The nomination deadline is Dec. 1, 2025, with a nomination fee of $100 per bull. A copy of the Rules, Regulations, and Nomination Form, along with the past sale information, is posted on the web at IPTBullSale.com. 

Qualifications and Requirements

Multi-trait economic selection indexes will be the foundation for determining qualification and sale order. The sale order will be based on the % Rank for a maternal and a terminal Dollar Value Index in each breed. The two indexes used have been included in the IPT Bull Sale catalog for several years, and the respective breeds include: 

• Angus: $Combined ($C), which consists of $Beef ($B) and $Maternal ($M),
• Simmental: All Purpose Index (API), Terminal Index (TI)
• Hereford: Baldy Maternal Index (BMI); Certified Hereford: Beef index (CHB)