Mike
Well-known member
But getting around to the front now............................
AgCanada.com: Feeders Bring U.S. Consolidated Sell To Canada
By Larry Thomas — For more than a decade now, feedlots have seen their bargaining power chipped away by the growing market power of large packers and retailers. One symptom of this trend has been a declining trend in the number of cattle being sold on the cash market. And now, thanks to BSE, and the disconnect it has caused with the U.S. market, feeders must wrestle with a basis that has become darn near impossible to predict. The result is greater risk for all feeders.
In October last year the situation became so intolerable a dozen independent-minded Alberta feeders turned to an American agriculture marketing co-operative for advice. Two representatives from the non-profit Consolidated Beef Producers (CBP) attended 3 meetings in Alberta this March and the response from the audience was so encouraging the 12 local feeders decided to take the next step.
CBP certainly has a good story to tell. Formed in 2000, it markets a consolidated pool of cattle each week on behalf of 230 member feedlots across the U.S. In 5 years its weekly show lists have grown from 10,000 to 50,000 head and more. Much of that growth has come in recent years as larger feedlots have signed on to become part of a "consolidated sell".
In April the 12 Alberta feeders, now grown to a baker's dozen of 13, gathered in Strathmore and committed their cattle and some seed money to forming the North West Consolidated Beef Producers (NWCBP).
Over the summer they got the ball rolling by hiring a marketing staff, drafting a marketing plan patterned heavily on the CBP program and establishing their rules of incorporation as a non-profit agricultural marketing association. This month they launched their membership campaign in western Canada where they hope to sign up enough members over the next 2 months to put some meat on the skeleton of this new organization.
Last month Cattlemen sat down with several NWCBP interim directors: chairman Ed Miller and his family operate the 20,000-head capacity Highway 21 Feeders Ltd. at Acme; acting general manager Terry Schetzsle, a rancher and former market operator from Veteran; Sam Buckle, who feeds cattle near Yorkton, Sask.; Jeff Warrack, past president of the Alberta Cattle Feeder's Association, whose family operates the Bruce Farms Ltd. feedlot southwest of Strathmore; and Darryl Sankey, a former cow-calf producer from Veteran who today feeds cattle on a custom basis.
The original 13 members have a combined one-time feedlot capacity of about 120,000 head which is a good start toward their first-stage goal. To gain the packers' full attention they feel they need a weekly show list of 5,000 head. That works backs to a committed annual supply of approximately 250,000 head.
Their campaign is targeted at 300 cattle feeders in Alberta, 50 in Saskatchewan and a few others in B.C. and Manitoba.
Both the interim board and their new staff bring a wealth of marketing experience to the new organization. Operations manager Keith Robertson's resumé includes a decade as a market analyst for CanFax and a management role at 2 sizable Alberta custom feedlots before he became the general manager of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association. Their marketing team includes senior marketing manager Vern Lonsberry, who worked for many years at Western Feedlots in High River, and area rep Will Lowe, based in Swift Current, who bought cattle for Cargill Foods in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
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AgCanada.com: Feeders Bring U.S. Consolidated Sell To Canada
By Larry Thomas — For more than a decade now, feedlots have seen their bargaining power chipped away by the growing market power of large packers and retailers. One symptom of this trend has been a declining trend in the number of cattle being sold on the cash market. And now, thanks to BSE, and the disconnect it has caused with the U.S. market, feeders must wrestle with a basis that has become darn near impossible to predict. The result is greater risk for all feeders.
In October last year the situation became so intolerable a dozen independent-minded Alberta feeders turned to an American agriculture marketing co-operative for advice. Two representatives from the non-profit Consolidated Beef Producers (CBP) attended 3 meetings in Alberta this March and the response from the audience was so encouraging the 12 local feeders decided to take the next step.
CBP certainly has a good story to tell. Formed in 2000, it markets a consolidated pool of cattle each week on behalf of 230 member feedlots across the U.S. In 5 years its weekly show lists have grown from 10,000 to 50,000 head and more. Much of that growth has come in recent years as larger feedlots have signed on to become part of a "consolidated sell".
In April the 12 Alberta feeders, now grown to a baker's dozen of 13, gathered in Strathmore and committed their cattle and some seed money to forming the North West Consolidated Beef Producers (NWCBP).
Over the summer they got the ball rolling by hiring a marketing staff, drafting a marketing plan patterned heavily on the CBP program and establishing their rules of incorporation as a non-profit agricultural marketing association. This month they launched their membership campaign in western Canada where they hope to sign up enough members over the next 2 months to put some meat on the skeleton of this new organization.
Last month Cattlemen sat down with several NWCBP interim directors: chairman Ed Miller and his family operate the 20,000-head capacity Highway 21 Feeders Ltd. at Acme; acting general manager Terry Schetzsle, a rancher and former market operator from Veteran; Sam Buckle, who feeds cattle near Yorkton, Sask.; Jeff Warrack, past president of the Alberta Cattle Feeder's Association, whose family operates the Bruce Farms Ltd. feedlot southwest of Strathmore; and Darryl Sankey, a former cow-calf producer from Veteran who today feeds cattle on a custom basis.
The original 13 members have a combined one-time feedlot capacity of about 120,000 head which is a good start toward their first-stage goal. To gain the packers' full attention they feel they need a weekly show list of 5,000 head. That works backs to a committed annual supply of approximately 250,000 head.
Their campaign is targeted at 300 cattle feeders in Alberta, 50 in Saskatchewan and a few others in B.C. and Manitoba.
Both the interim board and their new staff bring a wealth of marketing experience to the new organization. Operations manager Keith Robertson's resumé includes a decade as a market analyst for CanFax and a management role at 2 sizable Alberta custom feedlots before he became the general manager of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association. Their marketing team includes senior marketing manager Vern Lonsberry, who worked for many years at Western Feedlots in High River, and area rep Will Lowe, based in Swift Current, who bought cattle for Cargill Foods in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
More...
