Sold 6 culls, Rolling in dough!

[bombay_43]

Just received our cheque for 6 culls. One heifer that was open 2 years in a row, and 5 cows that either lost their calves or didn't calve(approx.3 to 4 years old). We were running short of grass for the numbers we kept, so these were sent to Edmonton, as there was no auction doing business up here at the time.

We did really good on the heifer;
weight; 1000 lb.- 34.00C

Not so good on the rest;
5 head average weight; 1092 lb.-5.50C

After trucking, commission, ABP, etc., we cleared $357.66!

I can hardly wait until that ground beef hits the stores! It makes me smile and feel warm and fuzzy all over! I figure, even with the cost of packing, we should be seeing some REAL bargains for our consumers! This is just the big break they deserve for their continued support of our beef industry. Thanks Canada! Enjoy this reasonably priced, lean ground beef, during B-B-Q season!

PS. I heard a rumour that the CAIS program was being scrapped! Anyone else hear anything?

[cakadu]

Hi Bombay. Haven't heard from you in a while, so it's good you're back. I cannot comment on CAIS because I haven't heard much other than the application deadline had been extended.

What's the weather and hopper situation like up where you are? Are you in that drought area? Hopefully the fires are getting no where near you.

[rusty1]

Just talked to my son who farms in Nebraska and runs a small ranching/feedlot. He told me they just sold some old crock railers there for $0.78 to a local packer. Start smuggling.

[cowman]

Hey Rusty heres an idea: Everybody takes their old crocks down to the border this fall and push them across the line when nobody is looking! Might have to happen at two in the morning or something? Could be done in about a million places...little dribbles of cows all along the border!
Of course if you got the darned things branded you might have a problem! Might need to vent that brand real good?
The next morning the Montana or North Dakota rancher wakes up and discovers he has a whole bunch of extra cows, with nobody claiming to own them(have to remove that CFIA tag!)! Suddenly it dawns on him that he has a dozen new 78 cent cows for sale! Off to the sale barn!
Saves us the trouble of shooting them and helps clean up the surplus of old cows, while helping out our American neighbors! Why the next year, we might even find our American rancher neighbors have built gates in the fences so we don't need to cut the wire!

[rusty1]

Dog on that's the best idea I've heard yet. I'll bet too that some R-Calf members would load them and sell them in Billings at Pat Gogins auction barn.

[cswilson]

Have you guys ever wondered if any slick claves will go south through Antelope Pass-really how could they be traced once they got south of the line-I bet you could find an R-Calf member to sell them for you and I'm sure Pat Goggins ouild let you use his mart-if there ever was a ***** for the dollar he's the poster boy.

[bombay_43]

Cakadu; It's good to be missed! I'm afraid many of our farmers wouldn't be missed if they were gone tommorrow!

Since the 7th of July, we have had almost 88 mm of rain up here, so the drought appears to be over for now. The hay crops looked good, but so far, most of it is coming off black or at very least dark brown. Top quality green hay will be lacking up here. But hey, why feed top quality hay to poor quality cows?

The hopper situation seems to have subsided somewhat. I was cutting hay yesterday, and noticed spots in the field where every size imaginable exists. The damage on our first cuts is minimal, but I don't expect a second cut this year. I know they claim that there are only 2 hatches per year, but I think these hoppers up here, have evolved!! Some very tiny hoppers still around in bunches, but I don't know if they will do much damage.

An old neighbor once told me, that grasshoppers have a natural preservation technique, by laying their eggs in fence lines, we can't disturb them. Evenings when you check along fences, the hoppers are climbing up on the posts. Maybe this is more than just an old wives tale.

All in all, the crops up here look better than in years! Canola crops are in full bloom, and have been so, for several weeks. Enough humidity to keep the blossoms from cooking!

Barley crops look beautiful! Will soon be silaging. Other years we use to look forward to it, this year, it is a real chore. Kept more cattle, hoping to see higher prices, just like every one else.

Still have not cashed our culled cow check! Can't decide what to spend all that money on! If you boys find a passage to the good ole USA, just point me in the direction! I have plenty more culls!

Here's wishing everyone a tremendous harvest, with reasonable prices on everything!

[cowman]

Bombay: You averaged close to $60 per animal, so if you have another 800 to sell you could buy a new pickup truck! Or if you had a couple of thousand more you could buy a new loader tractor! For a measly 300 cows you could buy a new stock trailer to haul them to town!
But cheer up just think of all the grass you're saving? Around here the going rate is $42/month for a cow/calf! In other words in a month and a half it costs more to keep the cow than she is worth! Isn't this a wonderful business?

[bombay_43]

I checked the "Ropin the Web" government site for weekly livestock prices. During that same week, Edmonton, lists the prices on D1, 2 cows, as .15 to .26. I have to wonder what happened to my five and a half cent cows!! Why aren't they proudly displayed?

I plan to show my local MLA my check as well as the stub that is attached. No where on the internet, will you find these prices reflected. I realize that there probably were no buyers, as the trucker had problems rounding up enough cattle to make a load, however, I doubt that anyone will see this "cheap" meat in local grocery stores.

I don't plan on buying a new truck any time soon. After all, our newest vehicle is only 12 years old!

Like it or not, all of us relied heavily on our culled cows as a sort of bonus check that use to tide us over from one calf crop to the next. I don't forsee many bonuses coming our way, for quite some time!

By the way, Rusty, is that .78 Canadian, or US?

[rusty1]

Yes it's $.78 CDN.

[cowman]

Yea bombay, your cows were only worth $851 instead of $1123! So don't feel so bad, you only got ripped off for $790 instead of$1060!

[kato]

Isn't that something. I ran the numbers for our 2002 cull cows, and they were worth $865.00 Canadian.

Ahhh... the good old days!