4-H Beef sale

[kpb]

cs wilson, I don't know why Nilsson Bros. should act any differently at a 4-H sale than at any other venture they are involved in. Their reputation in my area is, shall we say, less than shining and for good reason. I see that they have just closed the Edmonton Stockyards which was in operation for a long time under the careful management of Ted Woods and Jennifer Woods. Nilsson bought them out and closed the operation just this week because, it seems, there are better uses for that land.

And what about this--you get to sell your cows at their auction marts, but only if you sell your calves there too.

We all like to talk about the packers as taking advantage of our situation but Nilsson Bros. are home grown. Aren't we all proud of the way they treat their fellow ranching cousins?

kpb

[kpb]

grassfarmer, you make a very good point about local businesses feeling the effect of the crisis. Our little local general store has been in the same family for 50 year, and has given credit to most folks for that long. The opening of Walmart in town has hurt their business, the end of this month is the end of charge accounts at the store and I don't blame them one bit.
I don't think that businesses are obligated to support 4-H, but it is certainly not a charity. Many businesses think nothing of throwing a couple of thousand bucks at the local bonspiel or golf tournament and in my opinion, supporting a youngster and having good steak on the BBQ, makes one hell of a lot more sense than bankrolling the annual 'drunk' !!!
Sorry cowman, I have lived in the oilpatch for far too long to really appreciate the whiskey deals that do on !!! Seen far too many problems arise from empty bottles !!!

[cswilson]

Trust me guys the businesses who should support 4H aren't suffering in our town-were booming right now and as far as Cargill or Nilson's -I just sold some fats on the grid that dollared back to 90 cents live so I'll deal with them anyday over Nilson's.

[cswilson]

many businesses here use their 4-H purchases as income tax deductions and more power to them, at least they are supporting youth activities at the same time.
There were more buyers than steers at the sale here this year. Not one steer went to the auction market to be resold after the sale, over ten percent of them went for slaughter and the beef donated to the food bank.
We started a 'Businessmens Showmanship' class years ago and went out to every business including the downtown stores and asked someone from the business to participate in the class. It got so popular that business people were calling me wanting to show a calf, and the average sale price went up as more and more businesses came out to support the kids. Many of them had never been to a 4-H show before and didn't have a clue what it was all about.
I would really encourage any club that feels they aren't getting the support of the local businesses to consider trying it, by contacting business owners in person and asking them to become a part of the show it may create more interest and bring in a few more people to bid on the steers.

[cowman]

Nilsons tried to pull that "if you don't sell your calves here we won't buy your cows" thing at Red Deer, too.
When they told me that last year I said" Okay then I won't sell you my damned yearlings either"!
The fact was that the mart at Innisfail has a much better calf market as well as a good presort sale, with sorters who really know what they are doing.
So now I sell anything I own at Innisfail. I doubt I get much less, but then I've only sold a couple of cows in the last two years. I do know it sure is a hell of a lot easier hauling them to Innisfail than coping with the crazy traffic in Red Deer.

[cswilson]

emrald that is a really good idea and something I'll certainly reccommend we try here.

[cswilson]

cswilson, it takes some planning in advance but it is sure a way to raise awareness of the 4-H program and it a good PR event for the kids.

I contacted businesspeople in person each January and once I had enough business people for approximately 60% of the number of calves in the clubs I would start talking to the 4-H members to see if they agreed with someone showing their calf.
The actual pairing of business people with critters was done after the calf tours in late March or early April so we knew which calves were quiet enough for the businessfolks, many of whom had never been close to a critter bigger than a dog before !
I called each business person a week prior to showday to tell them whose calf they were showing and what stall to do to when they arrived at the show.
The businesspeople were asked to be there fifteen minutes before their class so the 4-H member could give them a LESSON in showmanship.
We had trophies and believe me some of the businessfolks and even the local Mayor took this very seriously.
The Mayor annually showed up with a big pair of welding gloves on which really amused the kids !!!
Only one businessperson got in a wreck when her calf took off on her and she ended up flat on her butt in the ring, but we didn't feel sorry for her as she was an old 4-H member from 30 years prior !!!! WE had a costume class for the businesspeople as well, and one year a fairly hefty gal showed up as Minnie Pearl and let out a HOWDY at the top of her lungs and nearly caused a minor rodeo in the barn !!! All in all, it is something that really gets the community involved, we had bank managers, bakers, flower shop owners, tank truck company owners, doctors, pharmicists, funeral directors etc. all having a blast !

[cswilson]

GEEZ, better amend this to assure you that the Mayor had more than welding gloves on !!!