Why Midwent cattlemen don't brand.

[Oldtimer]

[wdcook]

[Yanuck]

[phantom]

I have never seen a producer paid anything extra for not branding his cattle. Brands can be solid system to protect a producer as well as financial institutions.

[Yanuck]

yes brands can be very useful phantom, but the brand system alone isn't the answer

[per]

I tested the slick hide being worth more theory several years ago. I couldn't get anyone to pay anything more on bids or at the market. The risk of loosing a few unidentifiable calves is greater than any perceived pie in the sky premium. We have lost baby calves before until one year we branded at birth. Word must have got out because we haven't lost a baby since.

[gcreekrch]

[Clarencen]

I don't like brands or branding, and I don't like dehorning. WE do not lke to cause an animale pain. But so far there has never been anything that works better. I brand all my cattle, have ever since I got into the business. I use ear tags too, have since about 1958. First I used the little metal ones, worked alright if you would catch the animal to read it. Then we used the Temple tag, same problem, Temple made one with larger numbers, then Farnum had one you could actually read if you were up close. Tried several for cows, Then came the Richty, first one that really worked. Have used Allflex, now I use the Z-tag.

We were the first to use ear tags in our area, our neighbors laughted at us. Ear tags are good for ranch identification and area identification, but many get lost and can easily be removed. We also tattooed every calf at birth for several years as a backup, but often these were difficult to read.

I believe a good record system that follows cattle as they are moved would be as good as anything. We seldom move a single cow or calf anymore. If we can convince the producer of the importance of this, the ranchers, truckers, and salesbarn people can handle it without the government being involved. Brands and ear tags can be a tool used to help do this, but only a tool.

Several times I have got cattle back, that we may not have found had it not been for either an ear tag or a brand. Two different times the brand inspecter at the sale barn found one of ours that had got into someone elses herd.

[red61]

We only freeze brand along with tag and tattoo, and most of the neighbors do the same. One neighbor still hot brands, but he's had cattle disappear in the past.

[Ben H]

I'll admit it, I was for NAIS before I was against it. I started buying the RFID/Visual matched sets a few years ago. I still use them because I plan to get an RFID reader for weighing at some point.

[mrj]

I have none of the 'conspiracy theory' generated fears of NAIS, and understand the purpose (protection of US farm animals against rapidly transmissible diseases).

However, if it ISN'T implemented, I and others who understand the value of information which can be transmitted via RFID tags can even more easily capture that value because fewer animals with RFID will be available.

Re. branding: we do hot iron brand, castrate, occasionally have one which needs dehorning (most are naturally polled), and perform other health related tasks which may APPEAR painful and cruel, are they truly so? I say no more than many similar practices applied to humans, from birth onward.

Do they still circumsize boy babies without anesthesia. I now it used to be that the anesthesia was considered more dangerous than the mementary pain of not using it. As I recall, some other surgeries were, and maybe still are, performed on tiny babies without significant anesthesia, tho Im not oinvinced it was truly only momentary pain.

We once had a four year old who required a couple of stitches on his forehead and the doc said going without pain killer would result in one less 'stick' than just whipping in the stitches. The pain truly was momentary and he was pretty tough about it. Many of us have experienced similar situations as adults and understand that such pain likely isn't as bad as thinking about it beforehand was!

THen, there is childbirth without, or with little real pain relief.....I will spare you the details! But it is worth pointing out these issues to people who believe we are cruel for properly caring for our animals by administering such treatments.

We do notice that the fear of the little calves, and especially being separated from their mothers for a short time is probably more fear-inducing than the actual treatment, even hot iron branding. They are nursing immediately after being reunited, and even playing and acting as tho nothing had happened within very few hours, with very few exceptions......and who knows but what those were due to other causes. A calf which gets infected from castration, for instance, likely had something awry in their system BEFORE the surgery, and the open wound is where the organism presents itself. Doesn't happen often, and is the major reason for carefully checking the herd in a day or so after branding/castrating. That is assuming clean conditions and proper meds used in the operation.

However, as in many animal husbandry practices.......to each his own methods and let the marketplace sort the better practitioners from the lesser ones.

mrj

[redheeler]

I cannot imagine not branding myself, I understand however why people in other parts of the country do not. Faster horses says more and more people in his part of the state are not also, which suprises me since there are more real ag people there and way less greenies than around my part of the state. I know its getting less common around here to see a hot brand on a horse but most of the ranches still brand, wouldnt think of not doing it. We have a neighbor who is really getting up in years and pretty much quit vaccinating or doing anything he should a long time ago, untill a couple of years ago. He decided he wasnt going to bother with branding either anymore, he used to get us to help since he is an old batchler but he didnt do it for a couple of years. Then last year he was calling wanting help very insistently. He didnt tell us why he decided to start branding again but I think It had to do with the last batch of calves he sold in Billings, I suspect from his hints he dropped that the brand inspectors at the stockyards probably had some unkind things to say to him about all the slick calves and even though they were his STRONGLY inferred that everybody concerned would be much better off If he would just start branding again.