Cattle workshop set in Chinook

The Chinook FFA Chapter is hosting a free, low-stress cattle handling workshop Tuesday that is open to the public.

Local organizer of the clinic Larry Surber said he and a group of the FFA students saw clinician Tom Curtin give this presentation in Malta.

“It’s about how you handle cattle easily and make (moving them) seem like their own idea,” Surber said.

The Stockmanship Clinic with experienced stockman, Curtin, and will start Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Commercial Building at the Blaine County Fairgrounds. The lecture portion will last until about noon, Surber said, depending on the number of questions from attendees.

After a lunch provided by Chinook FFA, Surber added, Curtin will then give live demonstrations of low-stress cattle handling in the arena until about 3:30 p.m.

Surber said Curtin will use 10 to 12 yearlings to demonstrate the techniques he detailed in the morning lecture by maneuvering the cattle as a herd around obstacles in the arena. He’ll show how he approaches the cattle to put just enough pressure on them that they will want to do what’s needed of them, basically using cattle psychology to train the cattle for quiet handling, he said.

Unlike some low-stress cattle handling methods that emphasize using specialized facilities that foster a low-stress atmosphere, Surber said, Curtin teaches cattlemen how to present themselves in real-life situations to get and maintain the low-stress responses by understanding the needs of the animal. They can do this even on horseback, on four-wheelers or using cattle dogs, too, he added.

Cattle that are under stress lose weight, get injured and bruise meat, and they get handlers injured, he said, but this handling method helps cattle stay calm.

“I think, eventually, they’re going to require everyone to do this, the feedlots and everyone, and when (producers) haul the cattle out to different slaughter places and stuff, they’re not going to take them unless you’ve handled the cattle right,” Surber said.

People think they don’t have time to do this kind of handling, he said, but Curtin gives examples of how cattle that are stressed make dangerous choices, get separated from calves and do other things that take time to fix anyway.

“I think this is a good thing for everyone to learn,” he added.