Peggy Revell
The Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association is encouraging district farmers to attend a meeting next Wednesday (March 25) to learn more about the first-annual Stratton Pre-Sort Protocol Sale.
Starting at 7 p.m. at the Stratton municipal office, the meeting will feature Dr. Blair Simonson, who will discuss the vaccination protocol for the new program, as well as whole herd health and BVD-free animals.
The basic idea of the pre-sort sale process is to have a number of different producers in the area follow the same vaccination protocol, and use the same vaccines on their calves, explained Jeff Hyatt of the RRCA.
Then when the final cattle sale scheduled for Oct. 24 rolls around, these vaccinated cattle in the program will be brought into the Stratton sales barn and sorted out into lots based on size, colour, and uniformity.
This way, there will be larger groups of cattle to put through, explained sales barn manager Clayton Teeple.
“They’ve been doing these sales in southern Ontario pretty successfully, actually,” said Hyatt. “It kind of gives producers in this area another option to market their calves a different way.”
The success of these pre-sort and pre-vaccination sales in southern Ontario is why the RRCA decided to try it for the first time this year in Rainy River District, Teeple added.
“The reason it’s going over well is that the buyers that come to the sale barn, they like buying big lots of cattle,” he noted.
“And what we’re going to offer is larger lots of cattle all with the same vaccinations. So the buyers don’t have to worry about if those animals are vaccinated or not.
“And by being vaccinated like that, there’s less chance of them getting sick when they go onto the feedlot,” Teeple remarked.
“So, basically, it’s just an extra step for the farmer to take to add some more value to their calves,” he said, noting producers in southern Ontario and out west who have participated in the program have been getting more for their calves.
“By putting these large groups of cattle together, it’s more appealing to the buyers,” Teeple said. “They’re willing to pay more for a large group of uniform animals, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
If planning to participate, farmers also must start the process early, Hyatt warned.
“[The sale] is Oct. 24. If they’re going to do this, they’re going to vaccinate their calves once in the spring, about a month after they’re done calving, and then once in the fall about three weeks before the sale is,” he explained.
Along with following the vaccination protocol, Hyatt noted all the calves have to be age-verified, castrated, and de-horned. There also will be special tags for the calves.
The complete process will be outlined during next Wednesday’s meeting with Dr. Simonson, he said.
“He’s going to come down, he’s just going to kind of just review the vaccination protocol with everybody, kind of why these vaccines work for this area and why we went with them,” Hyatt explained.
“He’s also going to talk about not only vaccinating your calves, but also vaccinating your cows, just for a better whole herd health.
“And hopefully, in the future, we’re going to be able to guarantee the calves are BVD-free.”
Hyatt said implementing these vaccination protocols will help to promote healthy calves and, in turn, produce healthier herds.
“It’s not going to help everybody because there’s lots of guys with healthy herds right now,” he admitted. “But some people it will help.”
For those who have questions about the vaccination protocol, Teeple encouraged them to attend the March 25 meeting or contact either himself or Hyatt at 482-3983.
