Details

Last Updated on Monday, 26 April 2010 15:17

Written by Heather Hamilton

Torrington — “We want to provide a more regional video auction that has more manageable numbers to draw buyers’ attention and to increase demand for this region’s high quality genetics,” states Torrington Livestock Markets co-owner Michael Schmitt of Torrington Livestock Market’s decision to establish Cattle Country Video.
“After being associated with a nationwide cattle video auction for 19 years it has become evident to us in the last four to five years that a more regional aspect of marketing needs to be created,” explains Schmitt. He adds that Western Video does a great job with video marketing and Torrington Livestock has enjoyed working with them for almost two decades.
Cattle Country Video will offer cattle from the Rocky Mountain and High Plains regions including Wyoming, Montana, western South Dakota, northern Colorado, northeast Utah and Nebraska. It will be headquartered in Torrington with local representatives across the service region. Valentine Livestock Auction is already on board as a member, and the Kearney and Lexington Livestock Markets are currently in the process of joining. T&L Livestock Auction in Utah is also involved.
“We think it is important to provide quality service to our region and get people in contact with a local representative. We don’t want to go to Oklahoma or New Mexico or California and market those cattle. We are marketing cattle we understand and sell every day,” says Schmitt.
“We are very blessed and fortunate to have such high quality cattle in this area. We believe the best cattle in the country are sold in this region and we get a lot of repeat customers because of the quality, genetics and performance,” adds Torrington Livestock Markets co-owner and auctioneer Lex Madden.
Cattle Country plans to provide more frequent, one- or two-day auctions with more manageable numbers as opposed to three- to five-day auctions that jump from region to region.
“Several buyers have commented that they are only interested in cattle from this region anyway,” says Madden.
“In talking to buyers last year we found it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to zone in for a three-day auction. If we have a six-hour sale that offers 30,000 head, it’s not hard to get a person to come to the sale or sit at the computer or in front of the TV and give us their undivided attention. Historically when we’ve sold cattle, a buyer will be interested in lots selling at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. We would lose his attention and have to call him back because he wasn’t interested in any lots in between since they were from different regions. This format will enable us to keep everyone’s attention at one time,” states Schmitt.
The first auction is scheduled for July 1 in Cheyenne at the Little America Hotel.
“It’s an important location to us because that’s where we started. Our first sale with Western was held there, so going back to Cheyenne is like a homecoming for us. It’s where we started and where we’re going to continue from,” says Schmitt.
Cattle Country’s second sale will be held Aug. 12 in Gering Nebraska at the civic center and a third sale is slated for Sept. 16 in Ogallala, Neb. at the Haythorne Ranch.
“Every sale will be broadcast on www.cattleusa.com, of which we are a member,” says Schmitt, adding that along with attending the sale, they will be made available on Dish Network TV.
“The industry started with a sale barn and went to satellite in the early 1980s. Then in the late 1990s and early 2000s it went to Internet so we are unraveling that and incorporating the Internet in our auctions. There are four or five different places buyers can access to bid on cattle. I think that’s great exposure,” states Schmitt.
Cattle Country’s aim is to make their auction user friendly while providing uniform, high quality cattle in a manageable time frame.
“There won’t be a break in regions during our sale. Cattle will all be from this region, which consistently provides powerful genetics that are in heavy demand by the industry and they will be offered in longer streams that buyers demand,” says Schmitt.
Madden states that work is being done with multiple breed organizations in addition to certified and natural programs to provide options to both buyers and sellers. Schmitt adds that Cattle Country will have its own age and source verification program in addition to providing verified vaccination programs for cattle.
“We are bringing different levels of success to cattle and trying to identify and provide niche marketing options to our customers,” says Madden.
Cattle Country will have the ability to send text and email alerts on specific lots and track the number of hits a lot receives online.
“We will have the catalog online and if one lot is receiving a lot of hits we can go in and see who is looking at it. Then we can send those people an email alert when that lot is five minutes from selling,” explains Schmitt.
“All we’re doing is using proven techniques with modern technology. We understand what video marketing is after being associated with it for 19 years. Most of the wrinkles have been worked out during that time and we are able to take the good pieces and drop some of the things we felt were deterrents,” says Schmitt.
Cattle Country Video will bring over 20 years cattle marketing experience and two world champion auctioneers to the table. A trusted group of people are involved in the business that understand the cattle industry and are committed to quality. Schmitt comments that while change is hard he has really enjoyed the process and is very excited about the future of Cattle Country Video.
“We’re very excited about it and we look forward to doing business with our old customers in addition to many new ones. We strive to be fair and honest with both our buyers and sellers because that’s the way we live and what we believe in,” adds Madden.
For more information on Cattle Country Video call 1-888-3CATTLE or visit their website after April 1 at www.cattlecountryvideo.com. Heather Hamilton is editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .   

Details

Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 December 2009 06:00

Written by Ch

Southeast Wyoming – A new endeavor, beginning in a few southeast Wyoming counties, would enable Wyoming producers and customers to easily connect and do business through an online cooperative.
    The program’s pilot project, made possible by a USDA specialty crops grant through the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, will include Platte, Goshen, Laramie and possibly Albany County at the outset.
    The program, operated under the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) Cooperative Development Center, will be modeled after existing co-ops in Oklahoma, Nebraska and on the Front Range of Colorado.
    “It’s a double-ended co-op where both the producers and customers are members,” explains RMFU Wyoming Representative Scott Zimmerman. “Customers can take a look online of what is offered, then order products directly from producers.”
    Zimmerman says Oklahoma has a phenomenal effort – their co-op facilitates $60,000 each month in business. “The potential for this kind of co-op is vast,” he says.
    The Colorado-based High Plains Food Co-op’s (HPFC) website slogan is, “We bring the farmer’s market to you.” The co-op unites producers and consumers with an interest in locally grown food and other locally produced products.
    Appealing to recent food trends, the HPFC says it “strives to be a business that is environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and socially just. To foster a local food community and promote a culture of stewardship by cultivating farmer-consumer relationships, promoting the enjoyment of healthful food, increasing food security through diversity, and enhancing overall rural sustainability.”
    The HPFC offers a variety of products including vegetables, meats, grains, flours, eggs, spice mixes, breads, pies, tea, herbs and pet supplies, to name a few.
    According to its website, HPFC acts as the agent of producer members, posting and marketing the products the producers have for sale, receiving orders, providing delivery to other members of the cooperative, collecting from the consumers and forwarding payments to producers.
    On the customer side, HPFC provides an online catalog of available local food products, including information about how and where the products were grown and processed. It arranges for food to be delivered and receives and processes payments.
    On each order producers are assessed a 15 percent co-op fee, which goes toward the delivery process and the facilitation work in between. A check is mailed to the producer when delivery is complete. Each consumer has a 10 percent fee added to each order to help cover the same costs.
    Although a few Wyoming producers are a part of the HPFC on the Front Range, Zimmerman says it’s a limited basis.
    “Our plan is to replicate those co-ops on a limited basis in a trial project in Wyoming, and if it works we’ll go statewide,” says Zimmerman.
    The southeastern counties were chosen for the pilot project to contain the initial transportation and logistics.
    Although the funding was awarded in mid-October, Zimmerman says he doesn’t know exactly when it will be received. “There’s no timetable yet, but our intention is to start organizing the first of the year and have it up by next spring,” he says.
    For more information on how the co-ops work and what types of products are available, visit www.highplainsfood.org. Christy Hemken is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Details

Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 October 2008 08:03

Written by Christy Hemken

Pinedale - Customers of the Cowboy Shop in Pinedale have known they can visit the store once and return 10 years later to find the store still in operation. Owners Bob and Carolyn Bing hope that’s an expectation they can fulfill well into the future.
    In 1947 Bob’s mother, a schoolteacher in Big Piney, brought the Cowboy Shop into existence. She offered local cowboys the basics such as snap shirts and blue jeans as well as boots and hats.
    In 1973 Bob and Carolyn, who came to Wyoming from Michigan, got married and began to take over the store. Bob’s mother has been gone five years, but worked in the shop until a few years before she passed away.
    As the economy has changed, Carolyn says the Cowboy Shop has changed to meet the needs of the clientele of the moment. “The shop started as a cowboy store, then it got to be more of a tourist store because we’re on the way to Yellowstone,” she says. “Every time we have a gas boom we put more emphasis on steel-toed boots and Carhartt, then when the boom bottoms up we pull back into more cowboy boots.”
    Currently the store carries 50 percent cowboy wear and 50 percent work wear. Carolyn says when this boom is over the work wear will fall to around 10 percent of inventory.
    In addition to cowboys and oil workers, the store brings in customers from surrounding dude ranches. “We’re always ready for someone to walk in wanting less expensive hats and boots because they’re only going to wear them for a week,” says Carolyn.
    Of their inventory assortment, Carolyn says, “The reality is that Wyoming isn’t just Western; it’s a blend of modern, contemporary, Western, old-fashioned and European. We try to have whatever a person might be looking for.”
    “That’s the nice thing about being one of the bigger stores in town – people come check us out first,” she continues. “We have to be ready for them.”
    Bob and Carolyn say it’s their customer service that makes the shop unique. “People are so amazed when we don’t just say, ‘Here’s your change,’” says Carolyn. “The conversation we give our customers is something they don’t get other places, and that’s what I hope people will remember.”
    Although Pinedale’s population is growing and business is strong, Carolyn says the employee situation is “absolutely horrible.”
  “We’re almost strangled because of the lack of people to hire,” she explains. “The last thing we want to do is expand because we can barely maintain what we’ve got.” She says they’re lucky to have two other people working the store beside themselves, and even then it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on.
    “It’s well-known that Wyoming has a low population, but there’s so much business throughout the state there aren’t enough people to cover all the bases,” she says, adding local kids come back to the county to work but head to the oil field to make $20 or $30 per hour.
    “It’s always been a challenge, and I’m grateful we both work the store together so if nothing else we know there are two of us,” she adds.
    Of living in Pinedale, she says it’s the people and the place they like. “We drive home at night seeing mountains and antelope – where else in the world can you have that?” she says. “I also enjoy having a personal relationship with the people that walk in the door outside of them giving me money and me giving them merchandise.” After living in an Army family, Carolyn has stayed put in Pinedale for 35 years.
    Bob and Carolyn say rising fuels costs have softened summer tourism somewhat, but tourists walking in the door this summer seem to spend more money.
    In addition to their physical location, the Cowboy Shop has sold product online for five years. “Wyoming only has so many people that can walk in the door, so to try to even out the year and help our bottom line we’ve expanded our customer base by going online and joining the rest of the world there,” says Carolyn. “However, you can never replace or forget the front door and sidewalk presence and the people that walk in. Half the time they’re not walking in to buy something, they’re walking in to see about the rodeo or the roping. It’s all about the relationship.”
    The Bings welcome the August return of their daughter Terra as a store manager. “We’re hoping over the next couple years she’ll like it enough to stay,” says Carolyn. “We may not work less, but she’ll just do more.”
    Bob says he enjoys operating the store because, he says, “Every day’s a new day and it’s not the same old thing every day. There are always new people with all kinds of summer visitors and lots of foreign visitors.” Those foreign visitors sometimes benefit from Carolyn’s French fluency. “They’re always surprised when someone in the middle of nowhere speaks French,” he adds.
    “Every day somebody walks in and tells a story of the past, and I think in this current economy, where everything is changing so fast, there are some things that don’t change, and we’re one of them,” says Carolyn. “Hopefully we’ll be able to pass it on to the third generation. That’s really important to us.”
    Visit the Cowboy Shop online at www.cowboyshop.com or at 129 Pine in Pinedale. Christy Hemken is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Details

Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 October 2008 08:27

Written by Liz LeSatz

Riverton – A young, energetic crew is now in place to fill the New Holland void in west-central Wyoming with the opening of Brown Company in Riverton.
    “We’re kind of a young crew, but we’re enthusiastic,” says General Manager Trevor Bekken.
    With eight employees, the majority of which are in their 20s, Service Manger Stephanie Malcolm sees the company’s youth as an advantage.
    “We can set this up and make this work,” she says, adding their youth will bring fresh ideas to the dealership.
    Bekken agrees, “We’ve got good people working here and they’re willing to put in extra effort to make sure things are done and are done right.”
    While the store has technically been providing parts, sales and service in various forms since March, a “light” opening will take place Aug. 20 and 21 at the new storefront. Bekken wants to increase foot traffic and make customers aware the company is in town. The official grand opening of the store is planned following sugarbeet harvest to ensure more producers are able to visit.
    The makings of the Riverton branch started nearly 18 months ago when three New Holland dealerships closed their doors. The store hopes to fill the void and reach across the region.
    Brown Company in Riverton has seen a lot of support from the local community, and Bekken says they are excited to serve the local citizens and beyond. The store is also targeting the Pinedale and Worland areas.
    “The local support has been tremendous, more than we could have asked for,” says Bekken.
    Brown Company of Riverton’s service department includes three service technicians and the company is excited to offer help to producers in New Holland and other brands.
    “If people need us out at their place, we’re there,” says Bekken.
    The store also offers equipment rental. “We rent everything from skidsteers to tractors to windrowers to balers,” says Bekken. “If you need it, we’ll rent it.”
    With input from all employees and plenty of goals in mind, Bekken says they are striving to occupy 20 to 25 percent of the market in the next few years. But overall, Bekken says Brown Company is excited to carry on the New Holland tradition of supporting FFA and is ready to serve the community.
    Brown Company has existing businesses in Torrington and Wheatland.
    Liz LeSatz is the 2008 Summer Intern for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .