For those still shopping for the cattle rancher on their Christmas list, Saskatchewan Agriculture might have the perfect gift.
The annual directory of registered cattle and horse brands has been issued in hard cover to mark the province’s centennial.
Usually, the list of about 19,000 brands is in a binder but brand registrar Rusty Hawryluk thought the 2005 version should be special, especially for collectors.
“I’m a collector of things and I like history so I decided to try and make it happen,” he said.
Read Also
Key actions identified to address canola tariffs
Federal and Saskatchewan governments discuss next steps with industry on Chinese tariffs
“It’s mostly used as a tool so it’s not (usually) too fancy, but to some folks there’s lots of heritage in there.”
As well as photographs of the brands and the names and addresses of those who have registered them, the centennial version contains a message from agriculture minister Mark Wartman acknowledging the livestock industry’s contribution to the province and archival photographs of branding as it was done many years ago.
The cover features an imprint of the province’s centennial brand unveiled at Canadian Western Agribition and burned into a cedar plank at the official opening ceremony by premier Lorne Calvert and Agribition president Herb McLane.
Only 500 copies of the registry were printed and about 200 have been sold since the books became available about a month ago.
Hawryluk said some buyers are requesting special versions of the numbered copies.
“Some who has brand 77 might ask for book 77,” he said.
Book number one was presented to Agribition. The brands in the book are all active. Ranchers, municipalities, lending institutions and community pastures use the listings to verify proof of ownership and track down the owners of stray cattle.
One brand can be registered to six people because it can be applied to either side of the shoulders, hips or ribs of cattle and shoulders, hips and jaw of horses.
Brands are registered for four-year terms, unless a producer opts for the lifetime option first offered in 1997.
Some of the brands in the book could be as old as the province if families held on to the brands, Hawryluk said.
His favourites are the ones that “look like something” because they clearly mean something to the person who designed them.
For example, one brand looks like a church: an upside down V with a plus sign on top.
Hawryluk and his twin brother, Rick, have a registered brand that features a flying wing over a diamond.
He added that with so many centennial events happening in 2005, this book offers something to cattle producers that perhaps fireworks and parades didn’t.
“This is a little slice of the centennial that was relevant to them.”
Hawryluk can be reached at 306-787-4682.
