Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association president Cordy Cox-Ellis said earlier this week she anticipated that the 2018 Annual Bull Sale in Williams Lake would be be a good one.
“I know that bull prices are down a tick from last year, although last year was an exceptionally good year for bull sales,” Cox-Ellis told the Tribune.
“This year is still very strong, but perhaps off a little bit from last year, but that would make sense because it would be in line with the commercial cow market which is off a little bit too.”
Similar to many ranchers in the region, Cox-Ellis’s Dane Ranch at Kleena Kleene in the West Chilcotin has been busy with calving.
“We started on March 10 and have lots on the ground,” she said. “We are busy, busy.”
They will be calving until the end of May and expect to see 1,000 new calves as a result.
As of last week, they still had snow on the ground, which can be the case normally, but the amount they have is more than usual.
“By now we would have more bare ground, but we have had more of a traditional winter — like I was used to getting when I was a kid. We used to see this but we haven’t for a number of years.”
Ranchers have been plowing snow to make room for the calving, and there is a lot of runoff from the snow, a lot of mud and a lot of erosion.
“There is a bunch of water on the landscape and there should be some good hay crops if it continues,” she said. “You’ve got to look at the upside of it too. It could be dry and we could be on fire already.”
Cox-Ellis said it has been a tough season for many producers.
“First they were dealt with the fires and they got through that and things started coming around, but with the heavy snow and long winter, it has led to a longer feeding season which ranchers did not need. So many were bringing hay in because of the fires and the price was insanely high.”
Concerned about Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) road restrictions in place along Highway 20 west of Hanceville because they are impacting hay deliveries, Cox-Ellis is working with the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association to pressure the ministry to make some exceptions.
“It’s not like these guys have waited to have the hay delivered,” Cox-Ellis said.
“There were not enough trucks to deliver hay and what trucks there are have been delivering hay steadily.”
On Friday, April 13 a MOTI spokesperson told the Tribune the ministry was proposing there could be a staging area at the transition point at Hanceville where the load restrictions switch from 100 per cent to 70 per cent to allow drivers to adjust their load accordingly.
After Hanceville, Highway 20 cannot withstand 100 per cent loads, so they must be reduced to 70 per cent to prevent damage to the highway, a ministry spokesperson noted.
By Tuesday, Cox-El lis had not heard if any progress had been made on the request, but she is hopeful the ministry will continue to work with the BC Cattlemen’s to work waive the restrictions because of special circumstances.
Recently re-elected as president in February, Cox-Ellis was also elected as vice president of the B.C. Livestock Producers Co-operative Association on March 16.