The Rural Voice, 2002-09, Page 50FALL CATTLE SALES
AT KEADY LIVESTOCK
Tuesdays Sept. 3 to Dec. 17 @ 9:00 a.m.
1000 - 1200 local calves and stocker cattle
Fridays. Sept. 13 to Oct. 4 @ 10:00 a.m.
1000 • 1500 yearling steers & heifers each
day, selling ONS
Friday, Oct. 11 @ 10:00 a.m. 1200-1500
vaccinated presorted Charolais & Simmental
calves ONS
Friday, Oct. 18 @ 10:00 a.m.
1200 • 1500 vaccinated presorted calves
featuring Limousin, Blonde, Hereford and
Angus including Bluewater Angus
Friday, Oct. 25 @ 10:00 a.m. 1200 - 1500
Special Presort calf sale featuring mostly
Charolais calves of the Bruce Peninsula Calf
Association
Friday, Nov. 1 @ 10:00 a.m.
1000 Vaccinated local calves, preweaned or
right off cow, selling owner lots - NOT presort
Wednesday. Nov. 6 @ 7 p.m. 200-300 Black
and Black & White Bred Heifer sale.
Friday, Nov. 8 @ 10:00 a.m. 1000-1500
Yearling Steers and Heifers selling ONS
Friday, Nov. 15 @ 7:00 p.m.
Bred heifer and cow sale
RR 4, Tara, ON NOH 2N0
519-934-2339
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46 THE RURAL VOICE
cholesterol. The results have been
sent to Health Canada and
nutritionists across the country.
"We're excited about that. That's
the selling tool. We can approach all
the non -typical consumers and get
them buying veal for health reasons.
Veal has also been promoted
through advertising in the LCBO's
promotional magazine, reaching the
exclusive high-end audience offered.
The nutritional information has
also be sent to food editors, resulting
in several Targe spreads of recipes.
"These are million dollar
advertisements," he says.
Palmer says it has been a
pleasure getting into the
marketing side of the business
through his work with OVA. "It's
been thrilling, it really has, watching
this grow.
"As a farmer you just don't think
about it (marketing). After it leaves
your gate it's gone. never to be seen
again."
Farmers are poor marketers,
Palmer acknowledges. "You're
giving away whatever you've got.
You have your hand out saying
'What will you give me today?' It's
tough.
It's up to the commodity
associations and the marketing
boards to do the marketing for
producers, Palmer believes. They
have the cashflow and the staff
resources to make it happens.
OVA through money passed along
from the Ontario Cattlemen's
Association based on the checkoff for
marketings of veal calves and from
it's own limited membership, has a
budget of almost $500,000 a year.
"So we're hitting'the marketing thing
head-on to promote our product,"
Palmer says. The OVA board felt it
was either do or die, he says.
They had been part of the Beef
Information Centre which marketed
beef on a national basis. But the
OVA board felt its $100,000
membership never resulted in
promotions that helped Ontario
producers. Promoting veal in
Montreal or Vancouver didn't do
anything to help Ontario veal
producers who are looking at a
Toronto market. Now they use the
$100,000 to promote the Ontario
product.
Because of its focus on marketing
as well as producer issues, OVA is
different than most farm commodity
groups, Palmer says.
It's also different because it
doesn't stand alone but is legally a
committee of the OCA. It makes the
group nervous as OCA undergoes a
review of its organizational structure.
Calls from the Ontario Cattle
Feeders' Association for feedlot
cattle to be treated like veal
producers are worrisome.
"Veal is not beef. Legally it's not
beef. As far as its definition and
weight range and everything like that
we're a separate commodity. Our
markets are totally different —
though we are a competition for beef.
"We'll be presenting a report to
(OCA) on how we see ourselves in
the future," he says. "We sure hope
they listen."
When OVA annual meetings are
held more than 100 people attend
from among the 300 producers who
pay the additional $25 membership
fee. (Though there are hundreds of
other producers out there, there's no
way to know who they are except for
those who pay membership, he says.
Information on who markets veal is
not available to OVA.)
"We have a good rapport with our
producers," Palmer says of the eight -
producer board.
Nof that there aren't complaints
from producers about the
state of the industry, he says.
It's tough to make money right now
and producers want something to be
done to improve the market
conditions and change the subsidy
situation in Quebec where producers
average $100 per calf in subsidies.
Palmer credits former OCA
executive Graeme Hedley with
creating the conditions for OVA to
work on behalf of veal producers.
"We grew primarily because he
believed in us," he says. "We're very
grateful to him through the years."
The payment from OCA is
calculated based on veal marketings
through federally inspected plants
and the number calves born to dairy
herds, based on the number of cows.
Palmer, a former president of the
Huron County Federation of
Agriculture, and his wife Donna, got
into veal as they took over the
operation from his parents. The pork
facilities were nearing the end of