SEXSMITH, Alta. — At Gordon Scarlett’s 1,000-head cow lot, there isn’t a broken down cow that can’t be turned into a profit.
Scarlett buys cull cows at the local auction markets, calves them, fattens them and sells them.
“I do go to a lot of sales. I buy a lot of people’s junk cows,” said Scarlett who estimates two calves are born at his farm every day of the year.
“To us it isn’t difficult, it’s just part of the routine,” said Scarlett whose daughter, Colleen, manages the feedlot.
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Scarlett has more than 4,000 head of cattle scattered around his farm. There are pregnant cows, dry cows, steers, heifers and calves. Some cows are calved on the farm. Others are resold. Some animals go to pasture in the summer. The calves are finished in southern Alberta feedlots and others stay in his northern Alberta cow feedlot.
“We kind of do it all.”
It was during the mid-1980s when Scarlett began to work as a livestock dealer that he saw a lot of pregnant cows go through the auction ring straight to the packing plant.
The former Alberta Government Telephones employee thought it might be better to buy the cull cows, calve them, and make some money.
“I started the cattle business with one cow,” said Scarlett, who calls himself an “opportunist.”
Recently, he spent part of his day removing a 13 metre by 13 metre canopy that covered the pumps of an Esso fuel station and restaurant. The gas station was being torn down to make room for a highway expansion north of Grande Prairie, Alta.
Scarlett planned to use the canopy to build inexpensive parts storage for his used combine and tractor equipment business.
His introduction into the used parts business came when he sold a home in Grande Prairie in 1987. He took a combine and tractor on trade for the home, but the transmission went out of the combine shortly after.
“To get the money out of the house, I had to strip the combine,” said Scarlett, who is originally from southern Alberta.
Combination works
His company, Sexsmith Used Farm Parts Ltd., has since dismantled more than 2,500 tractors and combines.
While the used cow feedlot and used equipment business may seem like an odd combination, they complement each other, said Scarlett.
During the slow time in the feedlot, his 20 full-time employees can pull apart equipment, or his staff at the used equipment business can help out in the feedlot half a mile down the road.
Old equipment often finds a new life in the feedlot. The feed bunks are made from old swather header parts and he has a loading chute made from combine, tractor and baler parts.
“That chute will last for 500 years. It’s indestructible,” said Scarlett, who believes more farmers could recycle to save money.
Instead of feeding high-priced grain to his cows, he uses inexpensive fescue screenings, oat hulls and canola screenings in the feed mix.
“To feed cows effectively, you have to use cheap feed. Cows don’t convert as good as young animals. They maintain their body weight on poor-quality feed compared to more youthful animals.”
While few people have anything good to say about agriculture lately, Scarlett said he’s done well in the agriculture business.
“The Peace country has really treated us good,” said Scarlett, who added that his wife thought they would end up on welfare when he took early retirement from his secure job and got into the livestock business.
“Things have just gone ahead. Things have been very positive.”
