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How do I move forward?
Cariboo ranchers consider options
by MYRNA STARK LEADER WILLIAMS LAKE – “How do I
move forward?” That was the question on the minds of about 30 people who attended a no-cost workshop in Williams Lake at the beginning of February. “The other side of disaster”
gave valuable how-to advice from David Pratt, the well- known operator of the popular Ranching for Profit School based in Fairfield, California. Pratt’s advice addressed the challenges of working through not only the financial and material losses but also the mental strain of a disaster
on the scale of the wildfires BC ranchers faced in 2017. Pratt focuses on rebuilding a sustainable business in the face of disaster. That means making good ideas actionable. “One of the most
important things they learned was to keep moving forward,” says Cordy Cox, president of the Cariboo Cattlemen's Association. She and her husband run 1,000 cow-calf pairs on two ranches west of Williams Lake. Cox’s operations were in the midst of the fire zone. She says the number of cattle ranchers in the region lost are still not tallied, but a forward- looking session is one way to help people. “When the disaster hit, a lot of people thought that things were going to be forever changed,” she says. “People are trying to cope with those changes and the uncertainly of the sustainability of their operations. It’s a big thing.” The fires affected
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everything from the forage to rangelands, not to mention destroying buildings and hundreds of kilometres of fencing. “People are trying to grasp
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how they are going to move forward with those ifs, ands and buts, and what they can do within their operation if they have to destock or make a management change because parts of the range are no longer viable,” Cox says. “In most cases, it looks like the ranges are going to be fairly good but we’re not going to know that until the
43 4
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March 31, 2018—45th Annual
Dawson Creek All Breeds Bull Sale April 14, 2018 — 43rd Annual
Vanderhoof All Breeds Bull Sale
April 19 & 20, 2018 — 81st Annual Williams Lake Bull Show & Sale
Find a Hereford Breeder near you!
Visit
www.bchereford.ca for a copy of the BC Hereford Breeder Directory 2018-20
BCHA President John Lewis 250-218-2537
BCHA Secretary Janice Tapp 250-699-6466
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2018
Ranchers considered “the other side of disaster” at a no-cost workshop in Williams Lake. CORDY COX PHOTO
grass season. I think the main thing that it’s important is to give them solutions and a different angle to look at things during this uncertain time.” Cox says the AgriRecovery program has been a God-
send for beef producers in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Thompson-Okanagan who were severely affected by the wildfires. The deadline for AgriRecovery applications was January 31 but a lot of producers have already
received payments. Pratt’s workshop was hosted by the Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association and funded in part by Growing Forward 2, a joint federal- provincial program that expires at the end March.
Pine Butte kicks off bull sales by CATHY GLOVER
KAMLOOPS – Another dump of snow meant buyers outnumbered tire-kickers at BC Livestock in Kamloops for the first major bull sale of the season on February 17. While road conditions may
have put a chill on the social component of the annual production sale for Pine Butte Ranch, it didn’t seem to have a negative impact on prices or the distance some buyers were prepared to travel for
bull power. High seller was lot 22, Pine Butte 52Z Aster Lad 111D, who sold to repeat buyer Carlrams Ranching Ltd of Saskatchewan. The two-year- old Hereford bull sold for $8,500.00. Lot 19, Pine Butte 216
Standard Lad 99D sold for $7,000.00 to Fenton Hereford Ranch in Alberta. Douglas Lake Cattle Co. paid $6,250.00 for lot 3, Pine Butte Std Brit Lad 16D. Eight head sold for better
than $5,000.00 including two to another repeat buyer, Springfield Ranch in Williams Lake. Other volume buyers included Douglas Lake Cattle Co., Carpenter Mountain Ranch, Mike and Tony Baylifee and John Bosovich. Four bulls were passed. In January, Pine Butte
Ranch was identified as the 5000th Environmental Farm Plan participant during the Agriculture Gala in Abbotsford.
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