Age Verify VS non verified

[rockridgecattle]

So we sold 19 cows today. There was a price difference between the verified and non verified animals (cows)
2 weeks ago the price difference was 20 cents/pound.
2 weeks ago the same animals we shipped would have brought in the high 50's
Today however:
For age verified average was 1179 pounds for 44/pound. A 1600 pound animal brought 46
non verified saw from 26-33/pound with weights between 11-1500 pounds

Two weeks ago prices were better.
Watching the on line for Ashern showed the calf market down across the board. I think I heard the auctioneer saying the prices or lack there of blew him away. Rough ride for any one who sells this week

So to you Canadian Producers...Age Verify. Age Verify anything born March 1 1999. May take time but in the end it is worth it even with the crappy web site to do it on. age verify your calves as well

 

[Onthebit]

My cattle are papered but tell me how you can age verify an unpapered cow? Especially pre 1999?

 

[rockridgecattle]

They do not recommend age verifying anything prior to March 1 1999. They would be too old to ship any where.
However anything else and calves should be age verified with the RFID tags. Once you buy them and tag the animals you need to go to the livestock ID web site and set up your account and then enter the tag #'s in. THe place where you buy them from will send in to CCIA the numbers given to you. YOu then inturn log them in as they are used. You need to know they year they were born and the month they were born in.
I believe you have to contact CCIA to help set up an account.
When you sell in the ring, the auctioneer will announce that they are age verified...or they should announce that.

Do you age verify your calves?

 

[Onthebit]

lol, im not sure if you are asking me but my calves are tagged and could be papered if need be. Im a small operator so it isn't hard to do. But if you have a bunch of cows and they lose their tags and whatever how could you really age verify them? Cows come and go from some farms...I just don't see how precise the tagging can be. I have an older cow who came here minus the ear tag and the guy told me to stick my own in her ear. He didn't remember what tag she had. She is registered and tatooed so I know who she is.

 

[hillsdown]

Legally it is your responsibility to replace each tag if an animal loses them and keep extensive records of all tags used. If an animal leaves your farm it must have a tag of yours in its ear. That is the law. It is also the law that you DO NOT remove any tags ever.

This is very important for our trace back system. Yours are registered and so all records /transfers etc. are kept on file by the association. But they still require you do verify separately.

Our processor that we use for personal use requests the AVC at the time of slaughter.

When you buy your tags the website is on your paper work ,or you can call them and they will set you up.

 

[rockridgecattle]

age verify and registering with an association are two different things. In order to fill our demand for export beef we must be able to prove their age. That is best done through the trace back system of CCIA RFID tags. Any animals that leave your farm must have a tag. Any animals coming on your farm must have a tag from the person you bought from. If that animal is taken to the vet's it must have a tag. If it is taken to the stock yards must have a tag. If it is entered into shows it must have a RFID tag. Taken to an inspected meat packers it must have a tag that will get retired at slaughter.

It starts at the producer level.

We bought some hieffers in 2003. I think just as the program was getting off the ground. Then it was not important for the producer to register the animal wit CCIA. We just sold some of those animals. They had the original bar code tag. In order to ensure the age verify we had to put in our tag. We new the year they were born because we bought them as bred hiefers. we entered the info. When the animals get to slaughter they will retire both the original tag and the new one just put in

We all, Canadian Producers, have to do our part in keeping our herd safe and traceable

We had 100 cow/ calf pairs. Always kept the age verify. An id tag went in at birth. If when we were processing at weaning and the tag was gone, we replaced. There is a spot on the CCIA web site were you can cross reference your tags.
AS well, to make it easier most tag companies insert little stickers with the id # and a bar code. You place these stickers in your calving book. The newer calving books have a place for the CCIA stickers now. That way you always have the number. Then you register all the numbers used. If at such a time you have to replace you go back on the web site and cross reference the old number with the new #

 

[Onthebit]

Don't you have cattle that lose them? And, are you telling me that with 100 cows you know who is who? 100 same coloured cows? Jeeze you guys really are cattlemen/women! :lol2:

 

[rockridgecattle]

we know them all. Not all the same color. But most of the blacks we could tell somewhat. #'s help. All have atleast one dangle tag in their ear with a number. If they are a home grown hiefer then they have two plus an RFID with a sticker in the calving book. One dangle from the time of birth and the second when they are ready to breed with their own #. So if they loose one tag we are able to trace back.
When we tag calves we tag steers one color dangle and hiefers another dangle color
As well most of our cows have names.
When we culled 50% our herd in the last two weeks, it was surprising how many lines we took out...based on genetics and shape. We didn't plan it, it just happened.

 

[Alberta farmer]

While realizing the necessity of the traceback and for the need of age verifying at this time, I have some problems with it?
The first problem is this: I do all the work for the feedlot, the packer, the retailer, the government...so they all can get the benifit? What do I get? I know on young cows age verifying can get you a few cents, but I sure haven't seen it on calves or yearlings? Food Safety is the governments job and they are paid very well for it! Maybe seeing how I'm doing all the work and will be the first one to get a visit if something goes wrong, the government could pay for the RFID tag? Can't pass it on to the feeder/packer/retail as they would just lower the live price!
The second problem is this: We ID tag at birth. Then later I have to go to the effort and cost of putting in a RFID tag. Can't they come up with a combination tag, thus eliminating one trip down the chute and the cost of another tag?
The third problem is: Cargill/Tyson will get all the benifit of mandatory age verifying when they sell into the Asian markets. Will they be passing that back? They were to a certain extent before the Alberta government made it mandatory...now why would they?
The last problem I have: The Canadian government is in charge of food safety and the Animal Health Act? The fact is they screwed up bigtime and now want to shift the blame/cost to the cattle producers in this country. It wasn't me or you that let them bring in BSE! What have they done for us? Have they actively pursued a live BSE test? Have they stood up and played hardball with the Americans? I would suggest they have been pretty much useless?

 

[randiliana]

OK, first off, you guys really shouldn't be Age Verifying cows that you bought. You CAN look up their CCIA # to see if they are AV'd, but I think it is not legal to do it if you don't have actual proof of when they were born.

As for doing my own cattle, I know each and every one of the 170 animals on my land. If they lose a tag, I still know who they are. Plus, they all have back up ID, a metal ear tag or a tattoo. And, if tagged right, they very, very rarely lose a RFID tag. I also probably have better records than a lot of purebred people keep. We replace less than 5% of our herd tags annually, and so far I have replaced 1 RFID tag since they came out. It was a calf that tore it's ear out.

I work at the local stockyards, we see quite a # of cattle that come in that have no RFID tag. At the stockyards, it is our responsibility to make sure that all the animals that come in have an RFID tag. Of the ones that don't, 90% of the time they were either never tagged, or the tag wasn't put in the ear in the correct place. The ones that were put in correctly don't come out! By the way, if an animal needs to be tagged there, they charge $5/ head + the cost of the tag. I think they don't charge enough!!

 

[cedar]

fOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TROUBLE RECOGNIZING THEIR COWS,
JUST TAKE PICTURES WITH THEIR EAR TAGS TO PUT IN WITH THEIR RECORDS. That way if they loose their tag you can have the pics for reference. :cboy:
Sorry for the screaming...LOL

 

[rockridgecattle]

OK, first off, you guys really shouldn't be Age Verifying cows that you bought. You CAN look up their CCIA # to see if they are AV'd, but I think it is not legal to do it if you don't have actual proof of when they were born.

I work at the local stockyards, we see quite a # of cattle that come in that have no RFID tag. At the stockyards, it is our responsibility to make sure that all the animals that come in have an RFID tag. Of the ones that don't, 90% of the time they were either never tagged, or the tag wasn't put in the ear in the correct place. The ones that were put in correctly don't come out! By the way, if an animal needs to be tagged there, they charge $5/ head + the cost of the tag. I think they don't charge enough!!

We tagged the bought hiefers, but they had their orignal ID still in. We have proof of when they were bought and their age. They were bought before the push to Age Verify so the owner did not do it. Just tagged them with the old bar code style...so we have proof, and the vet was out and she does the export paperwork and said it would be fine

Our sale barn charges $20.00 plus the cost of the tag to tag then cattle.

We have only lost two in the whole time of using them. One was tore out and the other put to close to the frozen part on the ear. We as well keep records on the animal so as to find out which one if she looses her tag.