Monday 5/16/11
Today we got the chance to travel over to Ravenna, Michigan to observe a sale yard. Ravenna’s sale yard has two components: one side for dairy cattle and the other for slaughter animals, feeding animals, calves, hogs, goats, and sheep. We arrived in Ravenna ready to see a sale of primarily animals going for slaughter. The facility was small with workers on edge with the constant flow of animals coming in.
We met with USDA Inspector Jeff Schaner and he was able to explain the process of how the animals come in on the truck, are placed into pens (males usually separated from females), and are auctioned off. It was interesting to see how the facility worked.
After learning a lot about how their business worked, Tara and I got to sit in on the auction and observe what rates animals go for and how the auction is carried out. We got the chance to talk to some farmers and get their “two cents” about “the people in Lansing.” Ha!
On the way home, 10 miles from our exit, the state truck lost power steering and signaled to us to “check gauges.” Soon after the engine temperature gauge escalated to hot within a matter of seconds, so I pulled off the first exit I came to. Of course, the exit did NOT have any rest area, gas station, business, or anything! I called my boyfriend, Levi, to ask for some advice and he told us to pull over ASAP and to open any of the vents in the car we could. We could not reach anyone back at the office because it was already 6pm, so we called Beki Kennedy’s cell and she told us about the towing facility we were supposed to call. With her help and Levi coming to pick us up, we made it home safe and sound around 7. Woo! What luck on our first day with the truck!
Wednesday 5/18/11
Wednesday we were on the road again up to the Rosebush Market. The facility was completely different than that of the one in Ravenna and operated under cleaner conditions, but they also had more space to work with. When Tara and I arrived we met Dr. Tom Schwarck who was issuing movement permits to buyers from the sale. One buyer wished to move 69 cattle up to the UP, so he taught us how to enter the cattle into USAHerds and select a movement permit for them. We discovered just how slow the database worked on an air card and how inefficient the program is in some cases. It would be nice to see improvements for those inspectors and veterinarians in the field to get their job done in a timelier manner.
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