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mrj/haymaker-tx brands

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Chuckie

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i tend to not be precise enough for you all. mrj, when i said tx isn't a "brand area", i meant that when fat cattle from tx are sent to a packer, they are not required to supply brand inspection papers to the packer. they can brand them to their heart's content, but when it comes time to send them to town, no one cares about the brand.

i was just curious why that is. what about it haymaker? or do ya know (seeing as how you're a cow/calf man, not a feeder as far as i can tell..)?

anyway, upon what reflection i'm capable of, trying to make equitable brand laws nationwide would probably be WAY too cumbersome, especially as i think that some western states require brand registration by county, not state, and consolidating ownership brands just in those states sounds like a paperwork nightmare to me.

at least the boluses wouldn't be lost like an eartag, but i've also heard that they migrate...

this is an interesting problem that i think we've got a start on solving, but it's gonna take a while to get a system that's GOOD (whatever THAT means) and reliable.

let's hear some bright ideas!
 
How does a piece of mail get from one point to another? By the address. Each state has it's own two digit designation. SD for South Dakota. Make that a brand on a certain part of the critter and you know which state it came from.

When we used to spay heifers years ago we always placed an S in a certain spot on the critter to designate it was spayed. I thought it was a law, but may have been a "rule of the range".

Bolus's may work, but we need something to show who gave what shot and when, at each stage of an animal's life. So that if there is a problem with a certain specific animal, we know who did what to the animal, when. Otherwise any problems will be passed down to the cow/calf producer, by passing the buck on down the line, unless it can be proven otherwise.

The cow/calf producer will always pay the most because they have no one to pass the cost onto. ie, they raise what they sell and don't buy an animal to send on to feed out. Every other sector buys, adds value and sells the product.

I do think we need accountability. Those who have a better product should be rewarded and those who have a poorer product will get less and possibly be "phased" out.
 
Jinglebob said:
How does a piece of mail get from one point to another? By the address. Each state has it's own two digit designation. SD for South Dakota. Make that a brand on a certain part of the critter and you know which state it came from.

When we used to spay heifers years ago we always placed an S in a certain spot on the critter to designate it was spayed. I thought it was a law, but may have been a "rule of the range".

Bolus's may work, but we need something to show who gave what shot and when, at each stage of an animal's life. So that if there is a problem with a certain specific animal, we know who did what to the animal, when. Otherwise any problems will be passed down to the cow/calf producer, by passing the buck on down the line, unless it can be proven otherwise.

The cow/calf producer will always pay the most because they have no one to pass the cost onto. ie, they raise what they sell and don't buy an animal to send on to feed out. Every other sector buys, adds value and sells the product.

I do think we need accountability. Those who have a better product should be rewarded and those who have a poorer product will get less and possibly be "phased" out.
Click to expand...

Was reading the other day about leather tanners don't want branded hides, especially for auto seats. Branding will only de-value the animal.
I could see boluses AND eid tags working together for high retention rates. Whatever we use we will have to keep records for traceback and confirmation of health, sire and dam, etc.

You are right, accountability is the key. The ones who don't keep records will be phased out. How many of us record the date and numbers of animals when they are moved from one pasture to another? The one's who do will be ahead of the game.

I also wonder about all the "secrecy" that cattlemen are talking about in these systems, if you've got something to hide, it maybe that you really DO have something to hide.
 
I build custom made saddles and it is a problem to get hides with no brands. But if there is only a brand on the hip, there is not much waste of leather.

If there was a small state ID brand on the jaw it wouldn't effect leather.

Worst problem is cattle that have changed hands and been re-branded several times. They kind'a look like a map.

I'm not saying that branding is the only solution, but it makes a hell of a good return address. And old man told a young man who was learning how to apply a brand to a critter, "Brand 'em high so you can read it horseback and clear so it's ledgeable, cuz' it the only return address he's gonn'a have."

One thing about brands, a critter only has one hide so it's hard to remove a ledgable brand.
 
Jinglebob said:
I'm not saying that branding is the only solution, but it makes a hell of a good return address. And old man told a young man who was learning how to apply a brand to a critter, "Brand 'em high so you can read it horseback and clear so it's ledgeable, cuz' it the only return address he's gonn'a have."

One thing about brands, a critter only has one hide so it's hard to remove a ledgable brand.
Click to expand...

You are sure right about that brand being a home address... I got a call yesterday from a neighbor who wanted me to look up a brand for him- He had a cow in with his that when she calved he had realized wasn't his...I knew who's brand it was- a Garfield county family that ran cows in northern Valley County last year, not far from where the neighbors pastures are-- He reallized he must have brought her in with his, wintered her and calved her out--I told him I'm sure they would buy him a brew or two for his taking such good care of their cow.....
 
Here's a system that works with RFID tagging to keep track of all info. treatments etc, through all stages of production. Add DNA profile to this system and you have a tamper proof identification system. You would still have to trust that the info. input is accurate, but at least it ties all info. on an animal throughout it's life.
 
So you have your calf tagged and entered and somewhere down the line he loses the tag or someone removes it, what then? How do you make sure that he gets the right info tied back to him/her?

Couldn't seem to get the right stuff to come up at the site, but thats probably my fault. Thanks for the info.
 
I looked at that Link to view trak ,Looks like the rest of the 1990's tech. software systems. My neighbor had aginfolink too and that system is nothing other then a data sharing system that the big boys datamine every day to drive the cattle prices down when the fed cattle numbers in one county is high so the buyers can buy cattle cheaper.They know the numbers before you do.He has finally switched over to SSI and saved himeself some big bucks .He can put in brands and management data and use his cell phone when checking on cattle like I do too.Here is a link to peace of mind and common sense to SSI. www.scoringsystem.info/agri/
 

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