Certifying Cattle

Welcome to the Cattleman’s Corner. I’m Brian Hale, sitting in for the late Howard Hale as we continue his legacy of speaking with cattlemen and women from around the globe. Colorado Cattleman Steve Stratford on the need for third-party verification services.

There’s outfits that you can pay to certify your calves. In my life and in my business and in my customers, there’s no room for that third party, and we don’t need it. Cattle in our world, cattle that we market, cattle and the cattlemen behind them is what builds the reputation, not someone grabbing papers off a printer in their cubicle.

I don’t know one good order buyer that comes in and asks us for the paperwork that somebody else presented. Way up, condition, health, past performance, that’s what drives the market. Different times of year, different things drive the market.

You get into October, November here, that second shot is very valuable on a lot of strings of calves. A month ago, calves with a black leg only or bull calves were bringing almost as much per pound as some of the calves with one or two shots will in the next 45 days, because there wasn’t any around. The twos or threes, or like I say, the bull calves, some calves that were three-colored a month ago will bring more than some of the Angus calves will the next three, four weeks when the supply’s big.

Various things drive the market, but I have never found that the third-party verification drives it. If those cattle are third-party verified and they’re flashy or they’re too full or you’re selling them when the bulk of the producers in the country are and you have little dribs and drabs of them, it’s worth absolutely nothing. Colorado Cattleman, Steve Stratford.

Have you heard about the Gelbvieh and Balancer Edge? Gelbvieh and Balancer cattle are well-known throughout the beef industry for their maternal strengths and superior growth. Gelbvieh and Balancer offer genetics that work for the commercial cattle business. That’s it for the Cattleman’s Corner.

Thanks again for listening, I’m Brian Hale.