Branding the West

This past weekend I attended a branding at my friend Sarah Nixdorff's family farm, SNS Herefords. For those of you that don't know, livestock branding a technique of marking cattle, either by a hot iron brand or freeze brand. Since the earliest times, cattlemen have branded their cattle because a brand was the key to ownership. The marking is clear and unmistakable. Every operation has their own brand, varying from letters and numbers, to geometric symbols, to pictorial symbols. Often, four typical brands were used.

 Monogram

Ofter a combination of initials, with running curves

to blend them together

Phonogram

Usually letters or numbers combined with geometric or

pictorial symbols. My family's original brand is a phonogram-

      

 ZT    *Read as Bar Z T

Pictograph

Letters and numbers combined to make a picture. In the

photo on the left, an 'L' and a '5' are combined to make a '45'.

This type of brand is no longer available.

Word Story

A simple word that may tell a story about the cattlemen.

There has been a long history of branding, as a brand prevented cattle rustling, a concern still today. The average cattleman may have a 500 head herd which he might pasture far from home and can't check on daily, if there is a break in the fence and a calf gets out, cattle with brands are easily identified and traced to the owner.

Of course there are rules when it comes to branding. Every brand must be registered and approved by the Brand Registrar. When the brand is applied, it must be in the place specified on the brand registration certificate. There are specific places where cattle and horses can be branded.

Cattle: Shoulder, rib, or hip on either the left or right side

Horses: Jaw, shoulder, or thigh on either the left or right side

In the earlier days, a range cow could have several different brands and markings. Not only would they have a number of brands on their bodies, but they also bore knife cuts on their necks, briskets, throats, and ears.



The different markings a cow could have

Nowadays with the increase in technology,cattle identification has progressed greatly.  These systems also serve a different purpose. All registered cattle (animals registered with designated breed associations with papers) must have a tattoo in their ears. These tattoos consist of the breeders tattoo letters as well as the animals number and year letter. For example, a cow I raised would have the tattoo 'KEW 140W'. All beef cattle, registered or commercial, are required to have an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag in their ears. Every tag has a unique number that makes tracing an animal easy. No animal is allowed to leave the property without one. Not only must they have this tag, but every livestock operation must have a Premise ID number as well.

While many producers are not happy with the costs of all of these new initiatives, it is important to the industry for traceability and food safety. Traceability systems help identify beef products back to the retailer, wholesaler, processor, cow-calf and feedlot producer.

After all of this time, branding still seems to be the easiest way to identify their cattle. No cattle can be stolen, they are easily indentified, and cattlemen are proud to see their brand right their on their cattle!