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Joplin Regional Stockyards' Commingled Sales Add Value As more and more stockyards are seeing the rewards of holding special sales featuring cattle with a "verified" health program, commingling these cattle is also growing in popularity. The owners of Joplin Regional Stockyards in Southwest Missouri are no different. Jackie Moore and Steve Owens, stockyard owners, say they are committed to making the latest marketing options a reality for more than 25,000 customers. Although value-added sales -- where the cattle are guaranteed to have been raised under a proven health program -- have been commonplace at the Stockyards since 1997, Moore and Owens recently took the concept one step further. In June, the Stockyards held its first commingled feeder cattle sale. "Although commingling is not mandatory, it is an attractive option. Smaller producers are especially interested in commingling because it levels the playing field," Moore says. "The cattle are sorted into uniform groups and sold in larger lots." Commingling is expected to bring higher prices to producers; early estimations are $7 to $8 more per cwt than those cattle marketed by conventional methods, Owens adds. What's unique is the way the cattle are scored. Cutting-edge technology, known as the MSI Scanner, licensed to Performance Cattle Scanning, Inc., of Broken Bow, Nebraska, by BioSort Limited, captures an electronic image of each animal as it passes through a lighted chute. The animal's individual ID#, weight, size, sex, muscle score and frame score are recorded. With the animal's height and width captured by top and side video cameras, a computer determines the animal's shape. The cattle are then classified into one of three groups. And, each group is designed to match a specific muscle and frame type. "The MSI Scanner generates larger lots with the uniformity and consistency desired by buyers," Owens says. "The computerized sorting results in more uniformity than sorting by the human eye alone. There is less room for error and the end result is consistency. This means more money in the producers' pockets." Animal identification is maintained with the help of bar codes and electronic tags. Records show who bought and sold each animal. In return, each producer receives information about the weight and price of individual feeder calves, allowing the producer to better track the performance of individual cows in his herd, he says. "Commingling is expected to reduce sale time by approximately 30 percent, making it a winning situation for the sellers, buyers and the Stockyards," Moore says. At the Stockyards' first commingled sale, a mobile unit was used to scan 700 animals, which sold in just over 30 minutes. Reaction from the consigning producers was favorable, Owens says. Stockyards' officials are committed to the future of commingled sales. They continue to invest in the Joplin facilities through the construction of additional pen space and expansion of computer systems that are used to scan the cattle, as well as automatic open and close gates. Plans are to become fully functional this fall, with two permanent MSI Scanning units in place. Producers will deliver the animals on Sundays. Scanning will take place on delivery, and the feeder cattle will be sold on Mondays. There will be a minimal cost to participate in the BioSort system. For more information, visit the Joplin Regional Stockyards' Web site at www.joplinstockyards.com. |
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