Auction Info

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BUYERS FACT SHEET

When you buy a 4-H Steer or Lamb, you are buying the finest quality meat possible. The utmost care and attention has been given to these 4-H projects by the 4-H members themselves. Anything backed by the 4-H name today can only be described “AS NEAR TO PERFECT” as you, the consumer, can get. The modern 4-H animals are grain fed and meet today’s modern demands: the animals should be long, well muscled and trimmed to maximize meat yield with a minimum of waste. The average dressing percent of the animal is 55%. The percentage may vary with each animal. An example would be a steer of 1000 lbs. with a dressed percent of 55% would yield you 550 lbs. of meat.

THE SALE

The Royal Bank is hosting a “BUYER’S BREAKFAST” on Monday, September 26, 2011 at 7:30 a.m. (Location TBA ~ North Thompson Fall Fair Grounds. The sale of the Market Beef and Lamb are to follow at 9:00 a.m.

GETTING THE MEAT TO YOUR FREEZER

Transportation of your live animal to the plant can be arranged at the PWF office. Various packing houses are available to handle your purchase and prepare it for your freezer. There will be a charge for slaughtering, cutting and wrapping. Price list information may be available at the PWF office. Also, don’t forget to indicate to the packing house whether you would like the kidney, heart, liver and oxtail.

SUPPORTING THE SALE EVEN IF YOU DON’T NEED A STEER OR LAMB

Packing plants will process your animals and give you the current carcass price determined by grade. You can arrange through the PWF office to have your purchase RAIL GRADED to a packing unit. (see below)

NEVER ATTENDED AN AUCTION?

Have you ever had reservations about sitting at an Auction? Your troubles are over. We have a wide assortment of people who will do the bidding for you. Just specify a maximum price and we will try to purchase a quality animal on your behalf and within your price range.

CAN’T EAT A WHOLE BEEF OR LAMB YOURSELF?

Ask a neighbor to go halves on an animal with you. Employers often give a turkey as a Christmas bonus to employees. Why not consider Beef or Lamb? Package up some steak, a roast, a few pounds of hamburger or lamb chops and give that instead. Some companies have a big barbecue or a “Meat Draw” – just to suggest a few. Grade “A” animals today are leaner than ever to appeal to fitness oriented people.

Rail Grade Procedure

Rail grading is offered by the Provincial Winter Fair for the convenience of those people who wish to support the 4-H sale, but do not want to keep the meat from the animal. Rail Grade animals are paid for by the slaughterhouse on a dressed weight basis, after the animal is slaughtered. The government graders grade the carcass and the carcass is priced accordingly to the grade in relation to the posted price. The posted price is usually adjusted on a weekly basis, depending on the current market for beef.

At the 4-H Sale, the procedure is as follows:

The customer buys the steer or lamb themselves, or the PWF will arrange to have a buyer purchase the animal on your behalf.
The customer notifies the bidders at the sale ring that they wish to rail grade the animal and this in noted on the shipping documents. The customer must sign the shipping instructions verifying their intentions to have the animal rail graded. At this time, the customer must also pay for the animal, in full, to PWF.
The PWF arranges the shipping of the animal to the appropriate slaughterhouse. This is XL Beef in Calgary or a local Kamloops processing plant (depending on quantities) for the steers and Pitt Meadows for the lambs. The animals are removed from the PWF Fair Grounds shortly after the completion of the sale, and if there are an adequate number of animals to be rail graded, they are trucked directly to Calgary/Kamlops or Pitt Meadows that night. If there is not an economical load, the animals are taken to BC Livestock and put on feed and water for a short time while the trucking company arranges for additional cattle to make up the load.
The animals are delivered to the slaughterhouse along with the shipping documents from PWF. The slaughterhouse identifies the animal from the ear tag prior to slaughter. After slaughter, the carcass is weighed and graded by a government grader. The price paid by the plant is set depending on the grade of the carcass and is paid on the dressed weight, not on the live weight of the animal.
The slaughterhouse pays the funds to the PWF, after deducting a pro-rated shipping fee for the transportation of the animal from Kamloops to its destination. PWF will then issue the cheques to the buyers or the charities indicated by the buyers. These cheques are generally processed within a 2-3 weeks following the sale.

Depending on the amount paid for the animal on a live basis, the amount received from the slaughterhouse may or may not cover the expense of purchasing the live animal. PWF does not have control over the price paid by the slaughterhouse, nor the grade of the animal at the plant, and does not have responsibility to the customer beyond arranging for the appropriate slaughterhouse to purchase the animal and arranging for the most economical transportation from the PWF Fairgrounds to the slaughterhouse.

SETTLEMENT OF PURCHASES

NOTE: In the following clauses, “purchaser” or “buyer” means the person who bids for the animal at auction, unless he or she, while acting as agent, so signifies when signing the sales slip.

All purchases must be settled before animals leave the PWF Fair grounds. If any purchaser fails to settle for their purchase, the Committee reserves full power to resell the animal to their best advantage, either publicly or privately. Any loss arising from such resale, together with keep and other expenses, will be collected from the defaulter.

Immediately after each purchase is declared, the risk of the animal lies exclusively with the purchaser and it is declared that until settlement shall be made in the terms of these conditions, the delivery of the animal shall be suspended.

The secretary of the Provincial Winter Fair shall have the power to give receipt in full for all payment of stock and will remit the amount realized, less the proper charges, for each animal, to the seller thereof within 30 days after the date of sale.

No animals may be removed from the premises without an authorized release slip from the office. This release must be presented to the shipping committee.

The committee, acting only as a medium between buyer and seller, will not be responsible for any loss of stock following the sale occurring from any cause whatsoever.**

**Intermediary Holding: In order to reduce stress on the market animals – livestock may be held at an intermediary holding area (ranch) until the slaughter house can handle the number of animals – therefore the livestock are under the liability of Provincial Winter Fair until they go to slaughter if they are held at a holding location– once they are delivered to the slaughterhouse – the buyers then become liable

Bids will not be accepted from buyers owing a debt to the Provincial Winter Fair.

PROVINCIAL WINTER FAIR COMMITTEE AND THE KXA WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PRIVATE TRANSACTIONS THAT ARE NOT PROCESSED THROUGH THE PWF or KXA OFFICE

Provincial Winter Fair is one of the few unique agricultural shows that feature a live auction of market beef & lambs shown during the fair by 4-H and Open Single Contributors!

We invite everyone to come on up to the fair to check-out the market beef & sheep projects ~ Weight Classes occur on the Saturday & Sunday of the fair!

The action packed event begins with the Royal Bank’s “Buyer’s Breakfast” at 7:30 am. Breakfast is tasty, and a social affair where the public can mix and visit with ranchers, corporate executives and fair volunteers.

The auction will begin promptly at 9:00 am, Monday, September 26, 2011. Spectators choose the animal they wish to buy, then bid their price to fill their freezer for the coming winter.

If you can’t make it out to the fair but would like to support the auction - please contact us to organize a purchase for you - we offer the services of experiences bidders who will purchase the animal you want for the price you want to pay - see Request Form PDF or Email

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