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March 2010
by Ron Cerri

 

By the time this column goes to print the 44th Annual Fallon All Breed Bull Sale will have already taken place. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association would like to thank the consignors, buyers and everyone who attended this year’s sale.

Once again a committee has been formed to look at the brand program and some of the issues that have arisen. This committee is made up of two members of Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, two members of Nevada Livestock Association and one from the Nevada Farm Bureau.

The committee was formed originally to look at special sales and the costs associated with them. When the auction yards have a sale outside their regularly scheduled sale day the brand department has been charging the livestock auctions time and mileage for inspectors to recover the additional costs associated with these sales. The auction yards argue that these special sales are actually making the brand department money because of the number of cattle they bring in, averaging somewhere around 1500 head per sale. There are cattle that also come from surrounding states that bring money to the department that it would not have gotten otherwise. The auction yards concentrate these cattle in one location for the inspectors instead of having a number of inspectors driving many miles to do the inspections on small lots of cattle. The Brand Department’s counter to this argument is that these special sales take at least three inspectors, and most of the time it is necessary for inspectors to be there the day before the sale to inspect the cattle that come in early, the day of the sale, and again the day after the when most of the cattle are loaded out.

Presently Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) requires that expenses incurred because of special sales be paid by an operator of a livestock auction as reimbursement to the department. The problem arises because there is not a clear definition in the NAC’s of what a special sale is. Part of the committee’s job will be to come up with a clear definition. While researching for a definition it was discovered that there were other NAC’s not in line with Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS); the committee will also attempt to rectify that. For those that aren’t familiar with the regulations, NRS can only be changed by the legislature; NAC’s can be changed by the Board of Agriculture, but only after hearings held at various locations around Nevada.

The committee will also be looking at some of the other complaints coming from producers. For instance, there are complaints that there is inconsistency in how producers are being charged on their inspections, particularly on smaller lots of 10 head or less. NAC states that an inspector should charge time and mileage only if he isn’t given 24 hour notice for the need of an inspection. If he was given notice, then the charge is $10 for the first head and $1.00 per head after that. If the animals are brought to the inspector the charge is just $1.00 per head; the $10 for the first head is a service charge and should not be charged if brought to the inspector. Horses are a little different. If an inspector was given 24 hour notice and the horse is brought to the inspector, it is $10 for the first horse and $3 for each additional horse. Another instance where some inspectors are charging incorrectly is when they are inspecting truck loads. There should only be a $10 service charge on the first truckload and each additional truckload should only be $1.00 per head. One place I believe the NAC’s need clarification is when an inspection is done at a ranch and there are multiple owners. Should each owner be charged the $10 service charge? Many times when a ranch ships, the kids or employees may have just a few head that are slipped in and all are charged the $10. If Dad has already paid the $10 service charge on his 200 head should the kids have to pay it again on their few head—it may only be one calf.

It has become increasingly difficult to hire good inspectors for a lot of reasons. It doesn’t pay much, the work is mostly seasonal, you need to be able to drop whatever it is you are doing to go do an inspection, and you need to be able and willing to hang around sometimes for hours waiting for the shipper, the buyer or the trucks. Now obviously, there are certain things we as sellers have no control over like the weather, truckers, etc. But there are things we can do that can keep cost down. We can have the corrals and the scale ready; you shouldn’t have to hang that gate just before you need to load the calves. Don’t tell the brand inspector to be there at 6:00 a.m. if you’re not going to have the cows in the corral until 7:00 a.m. We need to remember that the brand department is run almost entirely on user fees; the only general fund money it gets is to pay for half of the Administrator’s salary. If we can keep costs down for the department then we will be keeping brand inspection fees down also.

The trip permit program was initiated a few years ago and for the most part the industry likes it. Like any new system, in the beginning there were some flaws which the department has tried to correct. The department really had no idea who had the trip permit books and whether or not the permit holders were sending their copies in. In order to get some accountability back in the program the department cancelled all of the old books. The trip permits you can get now are only good for one year, which is from January 1 to December 31. There is no limit, but you can only receive additional permits if you have mailed in copies of your used permits. Trip permits do save producers and the Brand Department money, as well as giving livestock producers flexibility and convenience by being able to transport their livestock anywhere within the state without having to wait on an inspector and for much less cost.

The livestock industry will only support a brand program that is credible and one they have confidence in. I have been a brand inspector for 23 years, and what I have learned is that as an inspector, you need to treat everyone the same and they expect you to look at their cattle. An inspector who drives up and asks you how many you have and doesn’t even look at the cattle, writes you an inspection and drives off is a black eye on the brand program.

The brand inspection program is as important today as it was 50 years ago. The program has and will always have its critics. It will always have issues with funding and with the hiring of good inspectors. Some producers feel that brand inspectors are nothing more than cow counters and that they are not catching the thieves. I would have to agree the Deputy I Inspectors rarely, if ever, catch rustlers, but I can tell you from experience that I have found and returned to the rightful owner quite a few cattle that I know were just honest mistakes. I have also refused to ship a number of cattle until I was shown by the shipper that they had proper documentation of ownership. The Deputy II Inspectors on the other hand, do catch the cattle thieves and, in fact, have arrested and convicted an individual just in the last six months for rustling. There are also investigations under way by the department right now that they do not publicize, for obvious reasons.

The committee will meet again in Fallon on February 19th and present their recommendations to the Board of Agriculture at their meeting in March.

My quote for the month states what it takes to be a brand inspector:

"Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
— A— Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

 

 

 

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