Calf club expansion boosted

Monday, April 25, 2011

by PAT CURRIE

Buoyed by an injection of more than $300,000 over the next two years, the Ontario beef industry is fighting through tough times by expanding the calf club concept as a proven market strategy with a huge potential for better profits.

Paul Stiles, assistant manager for the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, said the funds — provided equally by the OCA and Ontario’s not-for-profit Agricultural Management Institute — will be used to expand the existing six calf clubs in the province and encourage the creation of new clubs.

"While the concept of cow-calf clubs’ is not new, we’ve identified it as being an opportunity for Ontario cow-calf producers to embrace on a larger scale," explains Paul Stiles, Assistant Manager of the OCA. "The idea is that by being proactive and working together, members can take advantage of a proven marketing approach."

Essentially, calf club members follow the same formula in rearing calves with the same qualities and sell them all at the same time at the same sale — the annual October Calf-O-Rama at the Keady Livestock Market near Owen Sound.

"Usually our big feed lots go to Western Canada to buy big batches of cattle, something they can’t do in Ontario except at Keady," said Stiles.

The tactic is a proven one for commanding higher prices for producers, he said.

Two new calf clubs were established in Ontario in 2010 "and there’s room for many more," Stiles said.

Only a small percentage of Ontario beef currently comes from calf club members "and there’s all kinds of potential for more," he added. BF