It was an earlier morning then usual as a liner came to load thirty cow/calf pairs and one bull to be exported down into Colorado! It is wonderful that we are able to send cattle down across the border, but the preparation to get them ready and the paperwork is quite extensive.
The vet had to come out a couple of times, they needed to be TB tested, which stands for tuberculosis. It's just tested by giving them a shot of tuberculin under the tail head and then a couple days later the check for bumps where they injected, if there are bumps they test positive for TB and have tuberculosis.
The vet also had to brand the bull, cows and calves on the right hip with a CV(upside down)N brand!
We made a smaller sized brand (half the size) for the calves, for the reason that on a three week old calf the 2-1/4inch by 9-inch brand is not going to be a hip brand anymore once those calves grow up. So we had to get written permission to use the brand. We also had to tattoo the calves with the C upside down N brand because the smaller brand wasn't allowed to get into Colorado. The tattoo goes in the ear.
They were then ready to go across the border after the paperwork was filled out. The numbers, birth dates of calves and sex had to be included along with all animals RFID tag (radio frequency IDentification). The bull also needed a statement of virginity.
It is a lot of work to export cattle but it is worth it, during BSE no animal crossed the border and it hurt the industry and the producers! After BSE was over it was slow moving them across and now it is much better. It's picking up, prizes for animals are better and the industry is looking up, I believe the future is bright!
It took some organization and work but those 30 pairs and 1 bull are on their way to Colorado where I think their hair coat will be an added bonus for the weather!
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