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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2019


Livestock co-op provides selling, buying options Producer support, willingness to change are key


by TOM WALKER KAMLOOPS – BC Livestock


Producers Cooperative Association is a key asset for BC cattle producers, says Cordy Cox, vice-president of the rancher-owned marketing co-op.


“BC Livestock offers


producers the convenience of numerous ways to market their cattle, with the guarantee of payment,” says Cox, speaking from her ranch at Tatla Lake. “It was founded by producers, for producers, to provide a competitive buying place to market their cattle.” With yards in Kamloops,


Okanagan Falls, Williams Lake, and Vanderhoof, the co-op is located in BC’s key ranching areas. “It started out as a live


auction house in 1943 and


that continues to be our main core business,” explains Cox. “The energy and competition of a live auction always makes for a good sale.” The co-op’s ring sales continue to be some of the highest selling sales in Western Canada, on par with Alberta over the last couple of years, she adds. “They are very popular with


all sizes of operations,” she says. Cox recalls a marketing


presentation by Shawn Wilson, territory manager with animal health company Zoetis who previously worked for Gateway Livestock in Alberta, at the district meeting in Kamloops last month. “Wilson really supported


live ring sales,” says Cox. “He explained how feedlots want their order buyer to lay their


eyes on the cattle before purchase. The feedlots like to know that the quality, type and size of the cattle are what is described.” While the live auction


remains popular, BC Livestock is providing different forms of marketing to keep with the times, Cox notes. “We have been offering in- house video sales for the last couple of years,” she says, explaining how a team records the animals, and the video is played in the ring as buyers place bids in a live auction format. “They have become very


popular, especially for those customers who are moving large numbers of cattle by the liner load, or those customers who want more flexible delivery options.” Cox says the arrangement


is a form of risk management as well as being convenient for a lot of the big producers. It allows them to forward- market calves that are still on the range. “Ranchers can watch the


market and decide the cash value is really good at that time,” she says. “They’d like to sell now, but they are not going to have their calves off


Market set to stay steady Cattle prices in BC last fall were strong and steady, says


Cordy Cox, vice-president of BC Livestock and president of the Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association. “They weren’t at the high twos and close to three dollars a pound that we saw a couple of years ago but that was unsustainable,” she says. “It put too much pressure on feed lots; they were losing money.” “The price of bred cows this fall was definitely down


from the previous year, but the market was strong,” she adds. “We were selling bred cows for more than they were in Alberta and Saskatchewan in many cases, despite the cost of feed.” There are a lot of bred cows for sale this spring,


according to Cox, noting the impact of the feed shortage from the fires and drought continue to be felt. The market has not pulled back over winter, she says. “We are still getting really good money for our calves.


Any time you are getting over two bucks or a dollar eighty or ninety on those big calves, that is pretty impressive. You are making money.” Cox expects the market to remain steady through


2019.


Bumper pull & Gooseneck With or Without Tack Rooms


range for a couple of weeks; this method of sale allows that to happen. Direct sales through BC


Livestock are also becoming more popular. “We have customers who


like the confidentiality of a direct sale or don’t find it convenient to bring cattle into the ring or arrange the video sales, so BC livestock is available for direct sales,” she says. “A producer lets the fieldman know what they have for sale and BC Livestock will get a number of bids on the cattle. They take those bids back to the producer who can choose to accept or not, and set up their own delivery conditions.” The co-op continues to be a listing agent for TEAM Auction sales. These are electronic sales where buyers are bidding on-line while watching a video feed of a group of cattle live-streamed directly from the auction ring. “TEAM Auctions operated


through Calgary Stockyards is one other option for BCL customers,” notes Cox. Just as the co-op is able to blend old and new practices in marketing, Cox says it’s doing the same with staff. “We have been able to maintain the capacity of years of experience and years of connections in the business across the province by being able to mentor younger employees up through the system,” she says. “It’s nice to see that younger wave of guys stepping up into the management positions.” However, the key point of


distinction is that producers are always guaranteed payment. “You never have to worry about not getting paid,” says Cox. “Regardless of which way you choose to market, you get a cheque. The safety and the security of knowing that is huge.”


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proposed federal packing plant will change the scope of BC Livestock. “I don’t think the plant is going to have a huge effect on [our] business model,” she says. “It would offer some more options for customers and certainly provide an opportunity for more cattle to stay in BC.”


While she says it would be


“positive” for the BC industry, Cox also knows it won’t stop producers from sending animals to Alberta. “With limited bunk space in


the province and a small number of grain crops grown here, the majority of cattle are still going to go over the rocks into Alberta and Saskatchewan,” she says.


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