COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2019 Rain creates


haying challenges Markets slow in August


Looking back on the month that was August, the number one topic of conversation in my neck of


end of the month and start into September.


Cattle sales With no written


Market Musings by LIZ TWAN


the woods had to be the weather. Water, water everywhere – where it was needed and where it was not. After several summers of


drought and wildfires, 2019 has been the summer of rain in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. A welcome relief for many of us, but for others it has been an unwelcome guest, lingering for too many days and too many nights. Heavy rains have destroyed homes, cropland and rangeland.


The sun has finally begun to shine with enough warmth to dry hay so everywhere you look, ranchers are in full crop- harvesting mode. Swathers are in high gear, followed by the rake and a baler or bagger. The last few mornings have come with a heavy dew so the race is on. Fortunately, most outfits


are not trying to gather and market many cattle. While hot days and nights might be the norm for the month of August, the marketplace is normally cool with low numbers of cattle on offer across the country. Sales will pick up as we approach the


report available for the August 15 sale in Williams Lake at press time, a general report is all that I can report.


A video sale for


Dunlevy Ranch started with two liner-loads of steers (69 head in each group, listed at 930 lbs.) sold to a high of 183.25. There were a few cow/calf pairs on offer and they traded up to $1,725.00. Quite a number of D1/D2 ambled over the scales, fetching from 78.00 on the low side to 89.00 on the higher end, depending on condition. Butcher bulls bellered and bawled their way through the system, garnering a range of bids from 102.00 to 107.00. There were a smattering of light calves (just weaned from cull cows) that weighed up to 299 lbs. They went to 232.50. The group from 300-399 lb. traded to a high of 235.00, averaging 233.86. 900+ lb steers sold to a high of 177.00. Heifers in the same group brought 165.50. A few loads of BC cattle


went through Team Auction Sales, August 16, coming out of the Quilchena area. A lot of 70 steers weighing


890 lbs. brought 184.75 while another bunch (140 head) at 790 lbs. fetched 191.00. A


25


Tim Cail congratulates Analia van Kuik on leading the winning market steer at the Nechako Valley Exhibition’s open beef show, August 24. Judge Wendy Siemens of Houston put Maddi Penner’s entry second and Riley Beier’s steer third. The class was sponsored by Buck Mechanical Ltd. LOIS CROSBY PHOTO


third group of 80 steers hit the scale at 760 lbs. and ran to 193.50. Heifers (70 head) weighed in at 740 lbs. and traded to 178.75 while a group of 80 head brought 180.50. Feeder steers from 700-799


lbs. averaged 192.00; steers from 800-899 averaged 184.00 while the 900-999 lb. group also averaged 184.00. Feeder heifers in the same


weight groups brought 181.00 (700-799 lbs.); 167.00 (800-899 lbs) and 160.00 (900 lbs. plus).


Producers can apply for an advance on calves, yearlings, lambs, bison, forage and grain up to $1,000,000.00 with the first $100.000.00 being interest free. For Canola advances the first $500,000.00 is interest free. Plus, interest relief through the Advance Payments Program is available to association members on their feeder cattle purchases.


PROVINCIAL LIVESTOCK FENCING PROGRAM Applications Close:


September 30, 2019 View program updates at


cattlemen.bc.ca/fencing.htm email: okanaganfeeders@gmail.com


Office: 1.778.412.7000 Toll Free: 1.866.398.2848 email: fencebc@gmail.com


email: audreycifca@gmail.com 308 St. Laurent Avenue Quesnel, B.C. V2J 5A3 In partnership with:


Producer Check-off Supports Beef Industry Projects.


www.cattlefund.net 1.877.688.2333


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