New FCEC program aims to make cattle more marketable
"We're just trying to level the playing field." - Bunge Halla FCEC livestock division
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Brenda Sommer Bashful Bovines Kurt Rogers, Farmers Co-op of El Campo hardware manager (left) and Bunge Halla, of the FCEC livestock sales and marketing division look over one of several batches of calves that were sold recently at the El Campo Livestock Commission auction. The calves are part of a co-op program that began six months ago, designed to raise better-matched, calmer, more self-reliant batches of calves to send to market.

An experiment to create more marketable calves seems to have worked for the Farmers Co-op of El Campo.

Bunge Halla, of FCEC livestock sales and marketing division, said the co-op started a program six months ago to make better-matched, calmer, more self-reliant batches of calves to send to market.

"It's never been done in this part of the world," Halla said.

When the project began, around 20 FCEC producers agreed to participate. Their agreed to participate. Their calves were all placed on similar feeding programs, and producers followed feeding and health protocols throughout the animals' development.

"It was started due to the challenges in the industry today," Halla said. "We're just trying to level the playing field."

By the time the calves in the program were ready to be sold at the El Campo Livestock Commission auction, they had all their vaccinations, were weaned at least 45 days, and ready to eat grass, not grain and milk.

"This prepares them to go to auction in a low-stress environment," Halla said as he walked past pens of the program's calves at the auction barn recently. "See how quiet they are? Most (producers) just pull them off their mommas and bring 'em here."

Not only were the animals larger and quieter than other calves available for sale, they had been matched by color, conformation and size, in groups from two to 75 head.

The project's first sale, held last month, "helped us as a coop, and the barn too," Halla said. "We were in a little bit of a depressed market, but the sale went good. There was excellent buyer activity. It was really good." He said the calves sold for 8 to 12 cents per pound more "than the everyday cattle," which more than made the project cost-effective. The co-op is continuing the experiment, and hopes to have sales of groups of pre-conditioned cattle several times each year.

"As we grow and as the big marketing network matures, there'll be more buyers," Halla said. "Hopefully, we can bring some more value to the producers, as credibility increases. I would say, for the most part, everybody was extremely pleased."