WATERLOO, Ont. (Staff) – Poor care and handling of cattle on the farm likely is costing the livestock industry millions of dollars in lost revenues each year, Canadian cattle producers were told last week.
Kitchener, Ont., packer Matt Gibney of MGI Packers Inc. told the annual meeting of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Aug. 10 that bruising, stress, branding and excessive needle marks reduce the value of many cattle delivered to packers.
The result is lower prices for cattle and lower profits for packers.
Gibney said in some cases, the reduction in value due to improper handling can amount to $100 or more in a carcass.
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“The packers will absorb some of that, but some of that is going to get reflected back to you in dollars and cents,” he told the cattle producers.
Earlier in the meeting, Colorado State University specialist Temple Grandin offered CCA delegates a lecture on how to reduce stress and injury to their animals – practical advice such as how to devise loading chutes and the sights and noises that make cattle panic and cause stress.
More co-operation
Gibney said packers and producers must co-operate more to produce the clean, quality product consumers want.
“There traditionally has been some distrust between producers and packers,” he said. “We have to get rid of that.”
He illustrated the lower prices or trimming required when farmers sell animals that have bruises or marks which diminish the quality and value of the meat.
If producers took some basic precautions, it would be worth their while, he said. “The savings to the producer and to the industry could be staggering.”
He offered several examples.
The hide represents between six and eight percent of the value of a purchased animal for the packer. A brand which damages the hide can knock $7-$12 from the value of that hide.
Gibney also counselled farmers to concentrate their injections on the neck of their cattle, and to avoid multiple injections which could damage the meat and force the packer to trim pounds off the carcass.
“Needle marks are a huge problem,” he said. And animals should be de-horned to reduce bruising in the pen.
On all these issues, the Ontario packing plant official called for more co-operation within the sector to produce a high-quality product for which consumers will pay top dollar.
“The important thing is that we have to realize we have a problem and to deal with
it,” he said.
