4 minute read
From the Field
As I write this, the fall shows are finished and I must say that the enthusiasm in the Charolais barns this fall was exceptional. We have many young breeders that are out there promoting the breed with new ideas and it is exciting. The upbeat atmosphere is contagious and if you didn’t make it to a show, you missed out. The National show in Edmonton had a very large crowd watching the whole show and an even bigger one for the Championship. Some thought it was the biggest crowd they have ever seen watching the show there.
The fall sale run for the most part has been very good with some new breeders buying some numbers from the dispersal sales and some breeders that have only been in for a few years expanding and improving the quality of their growing herds. The most interesting buyers I found were the established breeders that know you can’t stop improving the quality in your herd. We saw some breeders this fall who really didn’t need any more cows but whose philosophy is that you can always buy a top female and cull two from the bottom. We have also seen some breeders from other breeds adding another breed to their operations which will be interesting. There has been more interest from the U.S. this fall and with the cow numbers down across that country, I would think there will even be more commercial females finding their way into breeding herds down there.
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We have seen some differences in prices between sales and even within some sales, that are bringing to light the dollar advantage of marketing and promotion. This encompasses many aspects from showing, attending and purchasing at sales, not only to improve your herd but to get your name in the public light. It also involves the obvious advertising at all levels of the industry, community, 4‐H and youth support as well as helping fellow producers, breeders and your association whenever possible. It involves contacting all your past customers and believing in and standing behind what your produce. Successfully marketing your product involves so many pieces and the more pieces you have the better your outcome should be. Doing all this is not cheap or easy, but the dollar rewards will hopefully offset all the costs and more.
One of the easiest ways to sabotage all of your marketing efforts is by being negative towards other breeders and their programs or cattle. Nothing can chase customers and fellow breeders away faster than someone who bad‐mouths others in the industry. Stay positive and all of your marketing efforts will be rewarded.
As one season ends another begins and bull sales are just around the corner. Make sure you do everything you can to maximize the potential revenue of your bull pen. Proper nutrition is the first thing and using a balanced ration that will maximize the gains but minimize the health problems is a must. Then the promotion and marketing comes into play. Making sure you have the best pictures possible and promoting them through all avenues is good. Paper, internet and radio advertising are all at your disposal. Last spring there were even some interesting results from advertising in places like Kijiji, which is free. The marketing options today have never been broader so don’t pull up short.
The Canadian Charolais Association’s press release is in this issue and you will see they have hired a very experienced consultant, Doug Blair, to take us along the path of genomics and eventually the use of this technology to enhance and make more accurate our EPD. This is very important stuff and the speed at which we can incorporate this into our tool shed, the better and faster we will be able to improve the traits we want to select for. The point I want to make here is that we all need to participate and DNA test our herd sires and then back it up with as much accurate and complete performance data on their progeny as possible. We need to include birth, weaning and yearling weights as well as scrotal and ultrasound data. If we are going to move the breed ahead faster with more accurate EPD at a younger age, we will need to do the necessary paper work. Again I emphasize that you send in the data on all the calves in the herd as the bigger birth weights and poor calves are needed in the contemporary groups to strengthen the EPD numbers of your top calves.
As we approach the holiday season I want to wish you all the best and may you have quality time with family and friends not just at this time of year but in the new year as well. From all of us at the Charolais Banner we would like to thank you for your support in the past and we look forward to working with you all in the future.
Until next time,
Helge
