Getting ready
Cattle owners prepping for big Easter Beef Show and Sale this week
Colby MacQuarrie of MacQuarrie’s Meats has spent a lot of time lately trying to get his prized purebred Angus, Gutz, in prime shape.
He hopes the hard work will pay off later this week when the annual Easter Beef Show and Sale kicks off at Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown. MacQuarrie had just finished washing Gutz down when The Guardian dropped by for an interview.
“I started when I was 12; my dad bought me my first show steer at the age of 12. I’m 26 now, so I’ve been in it 14 years,’’ MacQuarrie said. “I’ve got a big passion for it. I love being around animals and working with them, seeing what we can get them looking like from start to finish.’’
The cattle-buying bonanza takes place every year in advance of Easter. While those attending the show will be looking to buy some big-time beef, it’s all about offering the consumer top-grade product.
“I think it’s pretty big,’’ MacQuarrie said when asked what the Easter Beef Show and Sale means to the Island beef industry. “It gets the beef industry out there. It promotes all the good cattle around the Island. It’s nice to go out there with a good steer and see if you can get to the top, but if you don’t, you don’t. As long as they sell at the end of the day is my goal.’’ In terms of what consumers are looking for, things have changed since MacQuarrie’s younger years. Islanders are a lot more cognizant about buying local than they ever have been. And, they want the very best meat that money can buy. “A lot of things have changed – the style of the animals and how they come along, (and) I’ve learned a lot over the years (such as) how to take care of them a little better.’’
But showing prized steers is a bit of a dying industry. When MacQuarrie first got into showing cattle there were more than 100 steers in the ring at Easter Beef. Now, it’s dropped to between 35 and 40.
A similar show runs annually in Nappan, N.S.
“Not everybody wants to do it anymore. The younger generation got out of it.’’
MacQuarrie is one of the exceptions.
“I just enjoy doing it. I’ve always had a passion for it.’’ Dereck Sanderson of Spud Island Farms, another young man in the game, said there’s a lot of uncertainty in the industry.
“I’d say there is a lot of unreliability in it, especially if you’re in the fat stock game which is what the Easter Beef is,’’ Sanderson said. “You’ve got to put money out to bring them in and there’s no guarantee you’re getting it back out of them.’’
Still, he sees the Easter Beef Show and Sale as a big deal.
“I think it’s a great promotion for all of the cattlemen, especially the market steer side of things.
“You get to see a lot of the purebred stuff in the summer time but it’s kind of unique on the Island because it’s the only one with fat stock there that you’re actually sitting down with at the table at the end of the day.’’