STAFF Ontario’s cattle producers have picked up public funding for a project to put the concept of the calf club to work on a larger scale.
The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), backed by federal/provincial Growing Forward funding, plans to expand the calf club idea for its members to “take advantage of a proven marketing approach.”
“While the concept of cow-calf clubs is not new, we’ve identified it as being an opportunity for Ontario cow-calf producers to embrace on a larger scale,” Paul Stiles, assistant manager for the Guelph-based OCA, said in a release.
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The OCA said its project aims to establish clear steps for producers to take in order to increase their returns, while at the same time meeting the needs of Ontario feedlots and ultimately the consumer.
That means helping build new calf clubs and grow existing ones, but also forming a “Progressive Beef Producers” group, on the model of the Progressive Dairy Operators, as a forum for calf club members to exchange ideas and information, OCA said.
Calf club members would sell their calves at the same sale on the same day. Feedlot operators would thus be able to source a larger number of calves with the same characteristics and health standards, as club members would commit to follow the same specific management protocols and would all vaccinate, dehorn, castrate and deworm their animals before the sale.
Grouping calves for sale this way has been found to result in premiums of as much as 18 cents per pound for producers, the OCA said.
“Not only do we want to get more members into the clubs, we also want to attract more buyers who are willing to pay more for guaranteed healthy calves at Ontario sales,” Stiles said.
