By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter) with files from the Beef Cattle Research Council

Transporting Beef Cattle — doing it the right way maintains your investment

Jul 30, 2018 | 4:22 PM

LETHBRIDGE —  Successfully transporting cattle, especially over long distances, requires cooperation and communication from buyers, sellers, auction markets, and truck drivers.  

Derek Haley, an associate professor at the University of Guelph, and his research group have been studying cattle transported across Canada. Their research included cattle hauled  from western Canada into Ontario and Quebec, with rest stops in Thunder Bay. They found that 61% of the loads were feeder calves, 21% of the trailers were filled with weaned calves, and 15% were cattle at market weight.

Haley elaborates on more of the findings. 

“Even though cattle can legally be on a truck for 48-hours, the loads that we surveyed were enroute for an average 28-hours when they stopped for feed, water and rest.  Cattle were being rested for, on average, just over eleven hours, whereas the law requires five hours of rest – so the industry practice is more than double that amount of time.”

Haley reminds producers of the top considerations before transporting cattle.  

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“As for the beef cattle code of practice – know and follow the federal and provincial legislation for transporting animals, and that’s true even if you’ve hired a professional carrier to transport your animals – after all, they are your animals – so be part of the conversation on how to get animals to their destination safely and in the best shaped possible.  Know what animals can and can not be loaded and what conditions might preclude an animal from being transported, or what animals may need special provisions for being transported.”

Steve Eby, a producer who runs a backgrounding and feedlot operation in Bruce County, Ontario, explains how he ensures that cattle loaded onto a liner at his place arrive safely at their destination.  

 “We want to make sure the cattle are fit to travel, meaning their health – good feet and legs.  We also want to make sure that we have the proper weighting of the cattle, meaning, we weigh the cattle going onto the trucks so we’re not overloaded, as well, not being under loaded, as both can be an issue for the cattle.  So, we look for proper size and height of the cattle going into each trailer and then making sure the trailer is well bedded, clean and the driver’s ready to go.”

Eby also brings in cattle from western Canada. He says that working with the sellers and the people loading and transporting the cattle is key.  

 “We want to work with producers and auction barns at the other end that are loading those cattle onto trucks at the other end so that the cattle are fed and watered before they’re loaded – we want to make sure the trailer is well bedded.   The suggestion we have is 30-small square bails of straw – we’ll even pull the weight back a little bit to ensure the cattle have room to move around. We definitley look for anybody handling our cattle – we want quiet cattle handling and the last issue we ask is to keep us informed as there are weather issues involved during shipping, as well as mechanical issues, that type of thing – we like the drivers to give us a call a couple times during the trip.”

Transportation management doesn’t end when cattle get off the liner. Eby shares some of the things his farm does to get cattle settled in.  

“We want to be ready before the truck comes and we want to make sure we’ve got a pen that’s well bedded, there’s feed in the bunk, water troughs are clean and ready to go, and then when tht truck backs into the chute we are ready for a safe, quiet unloading and the cattle can move into their new home for an extended rest to get their rumen going again.”

If you plan to attend the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in London, Ontario this August, you can attend the session for producers about transporting cattle with Derek Haley and Steve Eby on Wednesday, August 15th. Register at www.canadianbeefindustryconference.com.