Farmer taking live cattle to the USA
Amy Gregson – Times Reporter
For the first time since 2003, a local farmer is heading south to the National Western Stock Show, Rodeo and Horse Show in Denver with live cattle.
Bill Wilson, from Wilson Stock Farms, hasn’t taken any live cattle down to the Show since BSE closed the borders seven years ago.
The National Western is one of the largest American shows to promote cattle, see what is new in the blood lines and what people are trying to breed.
“It’s just something we do every year and try and find out what’s new. This year they’ll see something new from us,” said Wilson.
He, along with Bushy Park Farms, will be marketing and displaying the bull they’ve been raising, WLW Serious Business 58P, to sell its semen.
This bull has been World Show Champion and Top 10 of Canada as a yearling and a CWA Champion and Top 10 of Canada as a two-year-old.
Along with the bull, Wilson will be taking a bull calf and two heifers.
It was in May 2003, the USA banned all imports of Canadian beef after a cow from a farm in Northern Alberta tested for BSE.
Cattle under 30 months of age were allowed into the USA in July 2005, as long as they were deemed not to be at risk for BSE.
Older cattle and beef cuts were finally allowed into the States November 2007.
Wilson could have taken cattle down last year, but instead just took down embryos, which have been born in the United States.
Wilson said they head down to this conference to promote their breeding stock.
“There you might sell an animal for three times as much as you would here,” said Wilson.
They also hope the bull they are taking down to Denver will be able to sell around 3,000 to 4,000 vials of semen.
“If it sells good then we will probably collect more because one of these years if something happens to him, we won’t have any semen left from him,” Wilson said.
The bull has already had four good sets of calves said Wilson, which may also make him in demand in the future once other cattle begin to have their own offspring.
This bull’s father, named bull of the year in the United States in 2002, has since died and “Business” is the closest thing they have left in terms of produce semen.
“He [the father] threw good calves and they’ve made awful good cattle. Now, his dad semen, if there’s any left, would go for $300 to $500 a vile.”
While the BSE crisis effected many farmers, Wilson said they have been very lucky because the local community has supported them.
“We are marketing our bulls locally. Nothing wrong with selling locally.”
amy@strathmoretimes.com