CUSTER STATE PARK - Custer State Park had its best buffalo auction in years Saturday, with both the average price per head and the total receipts more than 20 percent higher than last year's sale.

The average price per head on Saturday reached $776, up over the $636 average last year, according to park superintendent Dick Miller.

The park took in a total of $166,770 on 215 buffalo, up from $135,370 in last year's auction.

"For the first time in several years, every class was up," Miller said after the sale.

Average per-head prices by class were:

Mature cows: $970 per head, up from $725 last year.

2-year-old heifers: $1,042, up from $875 in 2006.

Yearling heifers: $786, up from $596.

Heifer calves: $474, up from $408.

Bull calves: $613, up from $527.

Yearling bulls: $776, up from $725.

Breeding bulls: $2,122, up from $1,300.

The breeding-bull average was the highest since the 2003 sale, when it reached $2,270.

Miller said the good prices - particularly the big jump in breeding bull prices - reflect optimism in the buffalo industry.

"All in all, we're happy," Miller said. "Any time we can get all classes on the positive side, that's sure the right direction for us."

During the bust in the buffalo industry early this decade, prices were so low that the park auction drew some buyers looking to buy a single animal to slaughter for their freezers.

Most of Saturday's buyers were buffalo ranchers, Miller said.

"They're not buying for slaughter. They're buying to either start a herd, build a herd or improve a herd," he said.

People in the buffalo industry have looked at the park auction as an indication of how the market might develop over the winter.

Custer State Park buffalo have long been sought after by those in the industry because they have been brucellosis-free for many years, Miller said.

Also at the auction, nine burros were sold for a total of $1,500.

Revenue from the auction goes to help pay for park operations.

Custer State Park also sells buffalo through a sealed-bid auction, an Internet sale and trophy and nontrophy hunts.

All of the sales will remove about 375 head from the park's herd. Another 20 head are butchered for use in the park's resorts.

The park will hold about 815 buffalo over the winter. Park officials have been keeping the herd size down because drought for most of this decade has reduced the amount of forage for the animals.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com