Feed a Steer
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
The Cheadle Lions Club is initiating a new fundraising project for the community this fall. The Lions are looking to purchase one steer from 20 different elite cattle producers. The steers will then be part of the Feed a Steer project. Funds raised from the project will be donated back into the community to help families and organizations that need assistance with health related issues.
“We, our Lions Club, are always looking for projects to get people interested. Years ago we had our Food Grains project and that brought a lot of interest from the community and it kind of ran its course there after a while for various reasons,” said Sonny Warrack, head of the Feed a Steer committee.
“I think this is a good time with cattle prices the way they are, there’s some new life in the industry and maybe this is a good time to do this.”
The steers purchased will all also become part of an average daily gain contest, to see which gains the most weight from October to May. For example if a steer comes in weighing 600 lbs on day one, and weighs 925 on day 100 then it would have gained 3.25 lbs per day, which will then be compared to the gain from the other steers to see which gained the most.
“At the end of the feeding program these will be fat, finished steers,” said Dale Cockx, incoming president for the Cheadle Lions.
“We have talked to a few people that are producing cattle and the initial response is very positive, they are very excited about participating and doing something like that with their animal.”
Each cattle producer that enters a steer into the project will be required to pay a fee of $300, and from that the prize money for the Top 3 weight-gaining steers will be gathered.
Other people in the community will also have a chance to get in on the project. There are different ‘steaks’ people can purchase to help sponsor the project and sponsorship levels range from $50 for the minute steak, up to $1,000 for the filet mignon.
“The concept here is it is just a little fun. The minute steak is the cheaper, and a round steak is a little more expensive and a rib steak and the filet mignon is the ultimate,” said Cockx.
“We’re (also) going to promote grain companies, fertilizer companies, implement dealerships and we will hope they will all be there bidding on these steers to raise the price up so that we can raise additional money over and above what we’re going to sell here as individual steaks.”
In the spring of 2015 there will be a big BBQ and a live video auction at the Cheadle Hall for all of the producers and sponsors. The idea is to auction off the steers to raise even more funds.
“We’re just looking for ways to have relative projects that engage the community, and that’s what we feel we had with the Food Grains and that’s what we hope we have with this one,” said Warrack.
The official kick off for the Feed a Steer project will happen during Heritage Days at the Beef on a Bun booth hosted by the Cheadle Lions.
Anyone who would like to get involved can either find out more at the booth, or by contacting one of the committee members. Sonny Warrack can be reached at 403-934-4186, Dale Cockx at 403-934-3705 or Marlene Risdon at 403-660-3650.