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As cattle breeders, we are very
dedicated to our business/way of life, and enjoy seeing other
people become interested in raising cattle, too. The seedstock
producer, especially, enjoys having new customers, and wants to
make sure they get a good start in this exciting
venture/adventure. Most producers do not mind answering
questions and giving advice to customers. Some of the newcomers
to the purebred business, however, do not have any prior
experience with livestock, and are continually asking questions,
coming to you for help, sometimes to the point of taking up so
much of your time that you begin to wonder if you did the right
thing in encouraging that person!
It’s great to feel needed, nice to
be able to help someone along in their wavering first steps in
the breeding business, but sometimes there comes a point where
you hope they can eventually learn to walk without having to
hold your hand for assistance every step of the way. There comes
a time for gently weaning that person from thinking that you are
the end-all, be-all for information and advice, pointing them
toward other sources of help and information.
You might continue to assist
them on breeding decisions, bloodlines, herd improvement and
questions of that nature, and get them started on how to handle
the book-keeping and records involved in raising registered
cattle, and give them advice in marketing their animals. But in
the day to day management of their cattle, you may need to
direct them to other knowledgeable people who can give advice
and assistance. There are professionals who are experts in their
fields, and whose jobs are to assist livestock producers. You
may need to politely, patiently and graciously point your
customer in those directions when he/she needs help with a
certain aspect of cattle raising.
The local county Extension agent
is a good place to start. It is that person’s job to be familiar
with local situations regarding soils and crops, plants,
livestock production, etc. and he/she can be a wealth of
information regarding cattle raising in that particular locale.
To be a good stockman you have to also become knowledgeable
about soils and pastures, forage plants, plant growth, grazing
management, forage harvest, etc. and the county Extension agent
should have expertise in these aspects of raising cattle in a
particular geographic/climate area.
Also you might recommend one or
two good cattle veterinarians in your region, if your customer
is local, or have the customer contact several cattle ranchers
in his/her local area to ask advice on a good vet to use. Not
every veterinarian is the best cattle doctor; some have
expertise with small animals, or horses, but not that much with
cattle, so it’s always good to ask around and find out which
vets are most highly recommended by other cattlemen. If the
first-time cattle raiser is not acquainted with the local
ranchers, he/she can ask people at the local feed stores, etc.
to recommend some ranchers to talk to.
Since health care will be one of
the things your customer will probably have many questions
about—especially if he/she encounters situations that are new or
scary—you may want to get off the hook as being the unpaid
veterinary consultant. Most of us don’t mind helping out a
fellow stockman in an emergency, or answering questions about
how to treat a certain condition or what to do in a calving
problem, but if the newcomer to this business expects you to
prescribe or loan medications, or wants you to come and assist
at every calving crisis or novel problem that comes along, it’s
time to recommend professional help.
There are also a number of good
cattle nutritionists or people on staff at feed companies who
can answer questions about feeds and nutrient requirements of
various classes of cattle (weanlings, yearlings, bred heifers,
lactating cows, bulls, etc.). If you are working with a
nutritionist yourself, it’s easy to point your customer to that
person, and “pass the buck” so to speak, telling your customer
that this nutritionist is the expert you use when you have
questions or need to figure out a specific formulation for feed
rations. A good nutritionist can be very helpful in getting the
newcomer started in “cattle feeding 101”, taking the pressure
off you for fielding lots of questions.
There are also many good sources
of information available on the internet, and you might point
your customer to some of those. Today there are huge
opportunities for further education in the cattle raising
business, including short courses at universities, field days
and demonstrations. There are also many educational materials
put out by land grant colleges, and some of these publications
can be accessed on the internet.
It’s also helpful for the
newcomer to subscribe to livestock publications, not only the
periodicals put out by their breed association, but also some of
the national and local magazines and livestock papers that often
carry articles on cattle management and health issues as well as
industry news. Many of the things we need to know regarding new
technologies (whether in breeding, feeding, health care,
vaccines, pasture management, etc.) are written up in these
publications and this is a good way to keep abreast of
“improvements” or new science regarding the nuts and bolts of
raising and caring for cattle in the most optimal ways. If you
subscribe to some publications that you feel are helpful to your
on-going education about cattle in general and to your business
of raising seedstock, recommend these to your new customer.
And, for people who still read
books, there are a growing number of resources available. Fifty
years ago there were only a few textbooks about raising cattle,
and most of those were geared for college classes in ag science.
Today there are a lot more books aimed at the beginning stockman
or the person going into agriculture, and some of these might be
very helpful to your new customers who are raising cattle for
the first time. There are also some books that are good
references for any stockman, new or seasoned, written in terms
that the beginner can readily understand. It might be very
helpful to have a list of these on hand that you could recommend
whenever you have a customer who is seeking to learn or needing
advice. Some breeders pick a book they feel is beneficial in
covering much of the needed information, and keep a few copies
on hand to give to first-time buyers.
New customers are the joy of any
seedstock producer, but often it becomes necessary to become not
only a wealth of information but also a wealth of recommended
sources—to help those customers find other avenues of help, and
to spread the educational burden among many other knowledgeable
authorities. That way, you don’t have to try to do it all
yourself!
A SAMPLING OF GOOD REFERENCES FOR THE STOCKMAN (OLDTIMER OR
NEWCOMER)
Grandin, Temple.
Humane Livestock Handling.
Storey Publishing, 2008
Haynes, N. Bruce.
Keeping Livestock Healthy.
Garden Way Publishing Company, 1994
Straiton, Eddie.
Cattle Ailments:
Recognition and Treatment. 6th Edition.
Farming Press, 1993
Thomas, Heather Smith.
Getting Started with Beef and Dairy Cattle.
Storey Publishing, 2005
Thomas, Heather Smith.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Beef Cattle.
Storey Publishing, 1998
(new edition will be available in 2009)
Thomas, Heather Smith.
Essential Guide to Calving.
Storey Publishing, 2008
Thomas, Heather Smith
Cattle Health Handbook.
Storey Publishing
(due to be published early 2009)
University of Idaho Cooperative Extension Service.
Cow-Calf Management Guide.
University of Idaho Cattle Producers Library
(updated inserts each year, to subscribers)
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