How to Buy FAQ

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 hanging.

Transportation of your live animal to the plant can be arranged at the PWF office, but at the cost to the Buyer.  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.

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)

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.

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.

Not taking your purchase straight to the butcher?  Interim insurance will be available for buyers whose livestock purchases are going home before going to the butcher. Please ask about insurance at the sale.

Please contact the PWF Office to Rail Grade beef animals – we can either arrange for a local slaughterhouse to purchase the beef, or the animal can be re-sold through BC Livestock’s Tuesday auction, and the buyer would receive the amount (price based on its per pound live weight)

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 or auction market. Lambs are directed to Dan Sandy, a local Interior Sheep Buyer. The animals are removed from the KXA Grounds shortly after the completion of the sale. Lambs are picked up by Mr. Sandy, and distributed to local abbatoirs for processing.
  
  
• 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 (when applicable) for the transportation of the animal from Kamloops to the slaughterhouse. PWF will then issue the cheques to the buyers. These cheques are generally processed within 3-4 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. * Please note for 2021, due to the price of feed, lighter  non-finished lambs will have a lower rate due to the price of feeding prior to processing

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.

Contact one of our recommended Processing Plants in Advance to Book a Slot for your purchase & bring your cutting instructions to the sale to assist in processing your animal at the plant:

- Kam Lake View Meats - Ron Keely  (Cherry Creek) - 250-828-1015 - Email

- Rangeland Meats - Devick Family  (Vinsulla) - 250-571-4551 - Email

- Benny the Butcher - (250) 819-0337 - Email