Jack Elliott
The Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association held another successful sale at its sales barn in Stratton on Saturday.
A half-dozen order buyers were arrayed against the sales ring while local sellers, buyers, and spectators filled the galleries.
Just over 1,300 head were on offer, mostly yearlings and fall calves, with roughly 120 cull cows and bulls filling out the slate.
Auctioneer Mike Nernberg of Minnedosa, Man. managed to coax some very strong prices out of the bidders. Good, fleshy, age-verified cows were bringing strong prices, topping out around $63 per cwt, with the bulk of those going to the order buyers.
Yearling steers in the 700- to 900-pound range were running at $1.10-$1.15/pound. Light steer calves were going from $1.20-$1.27, with one lot topping at $1.30/pound.
Heifers were running eight-10 cents a pound less than steers.
“Prices through most of the sale were strong, with local buyers picking up a lot animals to go back on grass,” said Emo area producer Kim Jo Bliss, who was working the sales ring desk.
RRCA president Ken McKinnon and secretary/treasurer April Szpara reported prices were at least equal to, or stronger than, other recent sales in southern Ontario and Manitoba.
They also were firm in their belief the feeder finance program has a major positive influence on prices.
Early estimates by Szpara were that about half the feeders went to local buyers (a full summary of the sales results will be available later this week).
“After locals had filled their requirements, there might have been a bit of slackening in demand, but I think most sellers were happy with this market,” Bliss noted.
A new system to read the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags attached to the cattle’s ears worked fairly well, although there were a few software glitches, Bliss conceded.
This system reads the identity of each animal as they are run through the receiving chute, automatically detailing its history and providing “age verification”—a requirement for beef animals being exported to the U.S.
Producers pay a total of about $21 per animal, which includes sales commission, feeding, and GST, said Bliss.
The RRCA started the Stratton sales barn in 1961 as a method to stimulate buyer competition and improve returns to area cattle producers.
It remains a major force in the district’s cattle industry.
