Stratton sale spared ‘mad cow’ impact

Things were “moooving” along as if the mad cow disease scare never happened at the first cattle sale of the season Saturday in Stratton.
The annual yearling sale attracted 800 head of cattle, which is more than last year’s 621.
“We had a good sale!” enthused Russell Richards, manager of the Stratton sales barn, despite so many people being pessimistic about it.
Prices were down slightly from last year, but not that far off the mark, as good steers sold for $1.14-$1.17 per pound. Heifers weighing over 800 pounds sold for about $1.07-$1.11 per pound while 800+ steers averaged $1.09-$1.13 per pound.
Last year, good quality yearlings fetched about $1.25 per pound on the high end of things while good 800+ animals averaged $1.18-$1.21 per pound.
Richards said he had visited many farmers to get them to sell cattle at Saturday’s sale and many were afraid they would not get very much for their animals.
“After seeing the prices that were being paid, many said they wish they had brought their animals to the sale,” Richards noted.
All but two of the animals sold went to out-of-town buyers. The six major buyers were evenly split from the west and the east.
“They are going to areas that have kill plants,” explained Richards.
He said two of the big buyers told him the biggest thing they like about Stratton sales is: “That all the cattle are farm fresh. There are no scalper animals here.”
A scalper is an animal that is bought at one sales barn one day and then sold at another one a few days later.
Richards said the more sales barns an animal is exposed to, the more apt they are to develop sickness. “For that reason, these buyers are willing to pay three or four more cents per pound for our animals,” he added.
In addition to the yearlings, 60 calves were sold Saturday at $1.17 per pound. That’s almost double the number of calves sold at the sale last year.
Richards said auctioneer Stewart McSherry told him the Stratton sale was the largest one in Canada last week.
Richards also said he’d like to see the merchants bring their prices of top beef cuts down by two-thirds, which is what the farmers have had to do to sell their meat across Canada.
“Then the average person would be able to take steaks home with them,” he reasoned.
He also feels the processing plants are going to make millions of dollars on the backs of Canadian farmers. With so few such plants in Canada, farmers are at the mercy of those in existence.
Richards explained the U.S. talked Canada into selling them the beef to be processed in the U.S. Now with the mad cow scare, Canada does not have enough capacity to process all of its beef.
Out delivering cheques Monday from Saturday’s sale, Richards said people are pleased. “It is not as good as last year, but it is not a tragedy, either,” he remarked.
The next sale at Stratton is the calf sale Oct. 4. “We will sell anything that comes. Any kind of livestock,” Richards stressed.