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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • OCTOBER 2019 Grass-fed cattle come to market with big gains


Rain, rain go away / Come again another day. Rain, rain go away / Little Johnny wants to (hay).


Market Musings by LIZ TWAN


The old nursery rhyme (with a slight modification) says it all for many Cariboo ranchers this year. What began as a promising growing year with rainy spring weather turned into a summer tainted by


disappointment as the sunny breaks were not long enough to dry hay. In fact, crazy summer rainstorms deluged some acreages, virtually eliminating any possibility of a 2019 harvest for many. We are well into fall now and the rain is still falling. On the flip side, conditions


brought 207.25. Their 592 lb. steer calves went at 212.25 while their 617 lb. heifer calves saw 186.00 and a group of 534 lb. heifer calves traded to 190.00. Kerr Cattle Co. of Telkwa


brought 978 lb. steers that brought the hammer at 173.75. Siegmund Finke of Prince George saw his huge 1,016 lb. exotic steers reach 170.00. Garrett Ranches of Vanderhoof trucked in a ring full of 879 lb. Angus/Hereford heifers that fetched 162.75 while a group of their 773 lb. Hereford heifers went at 171.50.


Sheep and goats sell well Last month began with a


Cattle are coming off range and into the auction ring with big gains over the summer, thanks to an abundance of moisture in cattle country. LIZ TWAN PHOTO


that have severely degraded harvest quality and quality have elevated summer and fall grazing pastures and range to optimum levels. Summer weight gains for grazing livestock in the Cariboo-Chilcotin have been tremendous. There has been no shortage of grass. The cattle industry suffered the loss of a lifelong


advocate with the passing of former cattle buyer, rancher and BC Cowboy Hall of Fame working cowboy Red Allison of Clinton. An era has ended. Sincere sympathy to his family, the majority of whom are still heavily involved in cattle and agriculture operations throughout BC. The sales weights recorded on the scales at the


livestock markets demonstrate that week by week. I watched in Williams Lake as several pens of yearlings purchased in April as grass cattle came back for resale. In most cases, there have been gains


in excess of 200 lbs per animal or better. The sale prices were decent and quite a few producers left the sale venue doing a happy dance.


Beef sales


Wayne and Lana Schindler of Merritt passed on a bid of 175.50/cwt on 130 head of black/black brockle-face steers averaging 985 lbs. during the TEAM auction sale on September 6. A pen of 72 mixed steers from Indian Gardens


Ranch, Quilchena, averaging 875 lbs. went for 184.25/cwt while a group of 150 810lb. steers went for 192.25. There were over 1,100 head at BC Livestock’s


Vanderhoof sale on September 13. John and Hilary McNolty started the sale with 672 lb. exotic steer calves averaging. 672 lbs. that


first for BC Livestock in Vanderhoof as it hosted a sheep and goat sale on September 4. By the numbers, it was a popular addition with 750 sheep and 200-plus goats put through the ring. The facility was packed and lunch was sponsored by the BC Sheep Federation – lamb stew


made with lamb provided by Glenbirnam Farm. A group of 85 lb. mixed lambs sold for 1.40/lb.


Ram lambs traded to 1.52. A few ewe lambs weighing just over 100 lbs. brought 1.52. A pen of 55-60 ram lambs sold at 1.40/lb; their female counterparts (60-65 ewe lambs) fetched 1.37. Breeding rams ran from $170.00-$190.00 per


head. Breeding ewes ranged $105.00 to $120.00 on average while a few brought as much as $150.00 per head. Kid goats weighing 65-70 lbs. traded to a high of 2.30/lb. while top price does reached 1.09/lb. Bucks traded from 1.65-1.75 each on average with a few reaching a high of $1.79. The sale was a new (ad)venture for the co-op (goats were everywhere) and deemed a success by most participants.


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