Why Midwent cattlemen don't brand.

[wdcook]

1. Most are small producers that also crop, therefore lack time, help, and in some cases, facilities, to give summer shots and/or brand.

2. Most have never branded. I doubt that 1% of MO cattlemen have ever hot branded.

3. Hide damage.

4. Animal rights concerns. We may very well have to anethetize cattle to castrate and dehorn in the future. We don't need to give the animal rights activists any more ammunition.

5. Cattle are on much smaller acreages than out west therefore are seen more often and rustling historically has not been a major problem.

I'm 59 yrs old and have learned to never say never but I can guarantee you that close to 99% of midwest cattlemen will never hot brand.

[Faster horses]

It is getting so here in this area, more and more do not brand...

[Sandhusker]

[Ben H]

For the same reasons above, I don't know anyone in the North East who brands. I'm sure PatB will chime in, he knows more producers then I do.

[burnt]

[Big Muddy rancher]

[Sandhusker]

[HAY MAKER]

[Plumberbutt]

I live in Eastern Iowa and growing up, we ALWAYS branded our cows. We usually ran around 100 head, give or take. We did it due to the fact that we had neighbors who didn't have the best fences and then we would have some come up missing at times. I now have a small herd of my own and thought about branding, but I am the only around our area with Buelingo's.

By the way....I enjoy this forum and enjoy reading and learning all the different ideas.

[wdcook]

Big Muddy, I would submit that the term proper husbandry is very hard to define. I think anyone involved in Ag., whether or not they have crops or livestock or a combination of the two, if they are fully employed in Ag and dependent on Ag for their sole income, has to set priorities and often finds themselves not getting all the tasks done that should be done on a timely manner.

One of the reasons I peruse this sight (I'm mostly on ranch talk) is that I'm fascinated to learn about ranching "out west." My sense is that many of you from KS and NE and west are as ignorant of cattle production in the midwest as I am of your methods of beef production. e.g. many of "you" have always branded, many of "us" have never branded.

There are a couple of primary reasons that I am adamantly against a gov't mandated ID system. One is as a free market capitalist, I believe the marketplace is quite capable of signaling to me when and if an ID system would be warranted. Secondly, in this vast country of ours I don't believe any one system is practical for all producers.

[leanin' H]

I can't imagine not branding. But as has been said, different parts of the country do the same stuff different ways. When it comes to a nationwide ID system, I fall in the camp that feeld like if it helps keep beef buyers more comfortable, therefore eating more beef, I am for it. However I am leery of anything mandated by the federal government and their mindless redtape. That's why I belive we as producers must finally unite at a national level and do it ourselves. But I can't see that happening either with all the hard headed buggers like myself out there. I do know it will be a cold day in hell when we have to use anethsizia to casturate a calf. If we let the wack jobs radicals get to that point, we'll all be vegans!

[Yanuck]

wdcook...do you get paid extra for "no hide damage? We brand as our cattle go out on BLM in the summer