Enjoy the fall colours

Our weather of late certainly should be bringing a smile to everyone’s face; it sure works for me.
I really don’t think there is a better time of the year, especially when it’s dry.
I encourage everyone to get out for a Sunday drive; the colours are amazing right now and there are still a lot of leaves on the trees. We have some very nice country here in Rainy River District and it’s nice to get out and appreciate it.
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We had a very successful cattle sale over the weekend, selling more than a million dollars of cattle. Prices are on the rise and we saw farmers fetch more than $1,000 for spring calves.
This is a much-needed increase in farm income, and we only can hope that things stay stable and we are able to see some profits on our farm instead of the other way around.
I was very pleased with my calf sales, and it sure makes me wonder if I should have bothered to keep all the animals that I did?
We saw a good number of sheep at our sale this weekend and they also sold very strong!
I was planning to buy Maddie a new sheep to replace “Daisee,” who died earlier. But I was shocked that they were going so high, so I didn’t buy one.
I did have a disappointed girl but the lamb ended up coming to our place on Sunday afternoon! Her name is “JC” so maybe that will indicate who struck the deal and brought her to our place.
“JC” is a Dorper, which is a breed of sheep that doesn’t have wool (she has hair and doesn’t need to be sheared!) She certainly stands out amongst our other sheep but they all seem to be getting along quite nicely.
Cows tend to fight when you introduce someone new, or even if they have been separated for a period of time, but the sheep didn’t.
“JC” isn’t use to an electric fence, but I’m sure it won’t take her long to adjust to that.
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The Risk Management Insurance Program meeting was held last week. I encourage everyone to apply for the 2011 year—it is free and that way it gives you time to make your decision for the 2012 year.
I know that when prices increase, it’s tough to think about using a program like this, but we shouldn’t forget that in the beef business things can change quickly!
The form doesn’t look too complicated, either.
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I know I’ve written about age verification previously but it seems there is still some confusion. I realize cow/calf producers don’t feel there is a benefit of age-verifying their calves, but at the end of our chain there is a benefit.
So I would like to think that whether you are a cow/calf producer, a backgrounder, or a feedlot operator, we should be working together. By entering birth dates, it helps our product when it enters the food chain.
There is no cost to do this–depending on where you purchase your tags, it will be done for you free. I enter many calves and am still offering that service for free.
I appreciate if you have me do it in advance of a sale, but I can do it at the last minute and it immediately goes into the CCIA data base.
You can do this yourself, as well. It is not that difficult and I gladly would help anyone get started.
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Remember to vote in the provincial election on Oct. 6.

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