KILLAM, Alta. – The gravel in front of the cattle shed has been levelled, dried plants have been stuck in old cream cans as decoration, and the cattle have been washed, clipped and primped. The only thing the Prichard family of Killam needs to do is wait for cattle buyers.
The family made the decision to go ahead with its first Hereford production sale this year, despite low cattle prices and the American border that is still closed to live Canadian cattle.
“We’re not going to curl up and die,” said Dave Prichard about the decision to hold a production sale.
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“We’re trying to be optimistic,” he said, five days before the Oct. 12 sale.
The family cancelled the sale last year because of the drought. They didn’t want to cancel it a second time.
They’ve had calls from buyers as far away as Nova Scotia, Illinois and Ontario wanting animals from the sale. The Prichard family and four other Alberta consignors will be selling a combination of 62 lots of cows, heifers and bulls.
In an attempt to entice more Americans across the border, Prichard has offered to board any cattle they buy for a year, or until the border opens up to live cattle.
“There’s no reason to have it closed, so hopefully it will be open soon,” said Prichard.
Barb and Scott Nixdorff of Airdrie, Alta., have done the opposite. They cancelled their production sale this year.
“We felt maybe we couldn’t get all our bulls sold,” said Barb. She believes many of their traditional buyers will keep their old bulls for another year instead of buying another.
Instead, the family will keep the $10,000-$20,000 it costs to hold a sale and put it toward the bills. They will sell their cattle to individuals who come to the farm.
Jack McAughey, a Hereford breeder from Mississauga, Ont., also chose to cancel his production sale this year. Usually about 20 of his 65 lots of cattle were sold to American buyers. He estimated the Americans bid on another 20, improving his prices.
“Without the American buyers it wouldn’t be the same sale as last year,” said McAughey.
Duncan Porteous, manager of the Canadian Hereford Association, said he knows of only a handful of producers who have chosen to cancel their production sales. Some of them will instead hold open houses or customer appreciation days to keep their cattle in the minds of buyers.
Purebred Hereford breeders have been especially hard hit by the continued closure of the border to live cattle. Many breeders have developed long-term relationships with American buyers.
Embryos and semen can still be transported across the border, but these products are a fraction of the sales of live cattle, he said.
“It doesn’t even come close to cover the losses from the loss of live cattle exports,” said Porteous. “It’s big business and we’ve worked hard at it.”
Alana Lunn with the Canadian Simmental Association said she, too, has heard of only a few production sales cancelled because of the border closure.
Even though it costs money to hold the sales, the cattle producers need to sell their cattle and get some cash coming into their farm.
“They’re trying to cut costs where they can,” she said.
