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Age Verification, Not Just For Calves Anymore!

Value Adding through Age Verification can make you money on more than your calves! Things are tight and everyone is looking for ways to cut costs or generate more income, including age verification. It helps in calf sales even if you don't seem to see a premium. It may generate another bidder or two on your calves and therein lies your advantage.

That extra bidder can work for you in another area - with your cull cows. "Why would I age verify a cull cow" you ask? Because Rule Two re: export of cattle over 30 months of age to the United States came into effect on Nov.19/2007. It states that cattle over 30 months, but born after March 1/1999 can be exported to the United States for slaughter, with all the appropriate checks by the certifying Veterinarian. Thus, if you can prove the age of the cow with age verification, more bidders maybe interested in her in the meat ring.

If you raised the cow, enter her birth date or year into the CCIA data base. They will accept birth dates for cattle up to 10 years old. If you aren't comfortable with putting the data in yourself, speak with Dan Ferguson or some of OCA's new data input folks to get the birthdates entered. Remember to allow some turn around time on this.

Once the cow's birth date is entered you can print off a birth certificate to send with the cow to the auction mart, as well as letting the auction know what you have and are sending. Most auctions are checking cows the day before the sale and marking those that have export potential.

Some auctions suggest it may bring a price difference of +$0.05 to +$0.15/lb. So $0.10/lb on a 1500 lb cow = $150.00. That might be worth investing a little time in trying to obtain.

Most auctions are checking cows the day before the sale and marking those that have export potential

One auction noted to me that "the ear tag number and the paper have to match". That would seem pretty basic but obviously some folks are sending cattle and paper work that don't match.

So…

• check your tags
• do some age verification on your potential culls
• work with your auction mart

Hopefully this will generate a little Value Added on the final income some of those cows will generate for you.

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