Stratton sales barn wraps up 50th season

By Jack Elliott
Correspondent

The Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association held their final sale of the season last Saturday, October 24. Six hundred and eighty-one head went through the ring, made up of 83 cull cows, 30-40 bred cows, 9 bulls, 334 calves and the balance yearling feeders.
“The market particularly for cull cows is soft,” said Auctioneer Michael Nernberg of McSherry Auction Services, commenting of the seasonal glut of cull cows on the market and the strong Canadian dollar depressing the export market.. He noted, however the cull cow market had recovered a bit from a week earlier.
Light weight fancy calves were bringing the best price with some going to local buyers looking to fill their feedlots for this winter. One lot of 485 lb steer calves brought $115.00 per cwt, while another lot of 430 pounders topped out at $117.25. Heavier calves were discounted ten to fifteen cents below that with heifers discounted a further five to ten cents.
Cull cows were going from $20-30 per cwt, and bred cows and bulls were also soft, but comparable to prices in Manitoba and further west.
Clayton Teeple, Sales Manager entertained the crowd demonstrating is considerable skill at dodging a few angry cull cows that rebelled at the indignity of being paraded through the ring.
This sale concluded the 50th season the Stratton Sales barn has served the Rainy River cattle industry. The next sale will be held in the spring, usually in April.