Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association president Jordan Grier is back in the saddle for another year.
During the association’s AGM in February he agreed to stay on and said he was proud of the work organizers did for the meeting which included a panel discussion with keynote speaker, past-president and currrent BC Livestock Co-op general manager Cordy Cox as well as BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon.
“It was nice to get out and get a bunch of people together again after the pandemic,” he said. “It’s kind of a big part of our industry and when it’s missing you can sure feel it.”
Right now the biggest issues facing ranchers is the same for everyone else, he said.
“This carbon tax is hard to swallow. The consumer is paying higher prices for food. The prices for food are not changing but the price of the shipping, the price of the boxes and the price of the marketing is what has really changed.”
Higher cattle prices are off-setting the price of doing business for ranchers, he said, adding hopefully they stay up for a while and producers can endure what the cost is going to be.
In the midst of calving season at Chilco Ranch at Hanceville, which has been in his family for 30 years, he said it was going well, but it has felt like a long winter.
“There is a ton of snow and people have extended their feeding and have had to buy more hay. With it being 40 below for so long and lots of snow this year, it’s just been insane.”
Normally the Chilco Ranch, where he lives and works, is totally dry by now, he added, but said they are better off than ranches in the east that still have feet of snow on them.
“It’s a struggle.”
Grier made more feed than he had made in as long as he can remember and still had to purchase some more to make sure he had enough.
Hoping to attend the upcoming Williams Lake 86th Annual Bull Show and Sale, April 13 to 14 to network with others about the Cattlemen’s Association, Grier said it is good to keep events like bull sales going.
“A lot of ranchers are going to their own sales, which is a great thing to be able to do, but it’s nice to have bulls come to town and even be able to compare the different breeds. When you get them all together it’s a really nice comparison.”
Presently the Cattlemen’s is applying for some funding to do some projects and in some ways is starting over again because COVID slowed things down, he said.
“We did a few events last year but this year we are trying to have way more meetings and work on some more issues.”
He encouraged others to consider joining local Cattlemen’s Associations to be able to learn and see what existing members have done, especially people who are new to the business.
“There is a wealth of knowledge with all the people that are part of the associations. We are definitely out there trying to make it sustainable for everybody.”
For the cow-calf operations it’s a good time but everything is cyclical and people need to be prepare, he said.
“I am an eternal optimist. We in the Cariboo region have some of the best producers in the country. We are pretty lucky.”
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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Beef IndustryCaribooWilliams Lake
