Name recognition is the name of the game for Tiffany Peters.
The 22-year-old hoped to sell her 4-H steer, a Simmental-Angus cross named Congi, during the July 12 finished beef sale at the Junior Ag Showcase in Saskatoon. She did some mail-out advertising to achieve her goal.
“It’s advertising for me and for my animals to see if you can get your name out there and let people know you’re doing this 4-H thing.”
Peters said a competitive edge is becoming more important at these kinds of sales because businesses no longer buy 4-H animals the way they once did.
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“People are not taking that step to actually go and support our 4-H. I don’t know if some people don’t find it worthy. I’m not too sure why they are not doing it,” she said.
“We are finding that some are buying some steers just because who they are, who their family is, over some of the other people. It’s kind of like a popularity thing.”
Peters is no stranger to the sale ring. She has been a member of the 4-H club in Catherwood, Sask., for 19 years and is now in her last year.
“My parents got asked to be leaders of the club,” she said.
“I was getting dragged along any-ways so I decided to join.”
Promoting cattle is a familiar concept for the Peters family, which grows grain and raises 80 purebred Simmentals near Perdue, Sask.
“We do shows all summer and promote our cattle that way.”
Peters has been showing and selling steers for seven years, but it’s only been in the last two years that she has started advertising by targeting buyers from previous sales events.
“I feel that when you take something to a potential buyer, it’s a lot better than just saying, ‘here I am, buy my steer.’ ”
She said the process is working. “It has been successful in the past. I
take it to a couple people and get my name out there and get their heads thinking. They (sale organizers, auctioneers) do mention your name at the sale. There’s a whole bunch of people sitting there and they hear your name.”
More advertising naturally equals quicker name recognition, which produces more bidding interest.
Peters plans to use the money from the Ag Showcase sale to help pay for university, where she is studying agriculture. She also plans to buy more purebred animals.
