High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[Ridgetop]

One or two sounds ok, one or two hundred or one or two thousand if rustlers are in the area I suppose. Nowadays rustlers still happen but they use big trucks.

In California (probably just like Texas) you need a transport slip to take cattle anywhere. We needed them for bringing our our newborn veal prospects home, taking them to auction, for weigh in and check in at the fair. The Brand Inspector would be at the scales to check your paperwork and heaven help you if you were on the road without it!

Our friends, the Marquez family, owned a dairy in Chino and had bought property in northern California to start another one. One time one of the Marquez boys was driving a load of heifers north to the new dairy and was stopped. The rig has "Marquez Dairy" on the truck and trailer, and he had his ID but had forgotten the transport papers. The Highway Patrol kept him there until his brother could drive up with the paperwork. Luckily the officer called the number of the dairy and was told that the heifers belonged to them and he was ok to drive them up. But the officer was not going to let him go any further without the paperwork. They were 15 miles from the new dairy! His brother was not happy to make a 6 hour round trip. After hearing that story I always kept a pad of transport forms in my truck glove box since some dairy owners did not want to bother going back to their office to fill out the slips for newborn bull calves.

What I find strange is that you don't need a transport slip to transport a whole trailer load of goats or sheep! They are actually easier to steal sometimes too since they are smaller. Pet goats particularly go missing from yards along roadways frequently. I think you should need a transport slip for them too. Most flocks have individual tag numbers, and dairy goats have tattoos. It is not like you can't identify them.

 

[Ridgetop]

Are you anywhere close to Ogden? There is a good breeder there with White Dorpers.

 

[Bruce]

Are there any dairies left in Chino? I lived there until I was 2 1/2. There was a dairy across the road from my Grandmother and Grandfather's farm. He had 2 small farms, my Dad was running one. I think they grew mostly sugar beets. My grandfather leased them out when he retired from farming in the late 60's, still had them when I was in college at Cal Poly Pomona in the mid 70's. Now they are house upon house of overcrowded development

 

[Ridgetop]

There are a few left. The dairies were given protected status and the area was considered the "Dairy Preserve" However, like everything in California, they are being forced out. The Marquez family was lucky because their boys wanted to take over the family dairy. They went through 4-H (where I met their mom, Bernardine), FFA, and finally AG college. Other family dairies have slowly sold out with no kids to take over. Also, the requirements on getting rid of the manure have gotten tighter, restrictions have tightened. I used to go down there 2 x monthly for my dairy stuff, that dairy supply store where they used to repair milking machines and sell equipment is no longer there. On the other hand, with Amazon and mail order maybe it wasn't necessary. The Marquez boys bought property up north near Visalia (another big dairy area in the San Joaquin Valley). Bernardine told me they wanted to expand and eventually move their dairy up north. Sadly, they didn't buy enough property to allow for the new manure pits that the government decided they needed, and were looking for more acreage last I heard.

The "Golden State" has wonderful weather which we will miss. however, the liberal government wants to take it all for themselves! California's main export and wealth used to be agriculture, but since Sacramento shut down water to the farmers in the San Joaquin, farms are drying up, vineyards and orchards dying, and even cattle are scarce on the hills. No water = no food! Liberal lawmakers don't care, they are on expense accounts and drink bottled water. Preserve your farms and ranching areas. Between PETA, liberals (no hamburgers) etc., we are in for hard times!

I am a 3rd generation San Fernando Valley woman, my grandkids are 5th generation, but we have to leave . . . .

 

[greybeard]

In California (probably just like Texas) you need a transport slip to take cattle anywhere.

No. I can haul cattle anywhere in Texas I want to without any govt paperwork or permits. The only exception would be commercial and that goes by weight, if it was a pot load. I take them to the sale barn, they just ask for your information, a verbal thing and that's so they know where and who to mail the check to. As far as crossing state line, you are supposed to have a CVI (Certificate of Veterinarian Inspection), but if buying from (for instance) Oklahoma* and bringing in to Texas the sale barn you buy from will have that and they have a vet on hand every sale. Brand inspection, I really doubt there is one at every sale here, tho I always notice the barn does include a fee on my receipts. Brands and/or ear tags are not required on cattle sold within the state at the salebarns or private treaty (yet).

I've never actually seen a brand inspector at any of the Texas salesbarns I've been to, offloading or otherwise.
Cattle theft or suspected cattle/livestock theft in Texas is handled by TSCRA..special rangers and they don't mess around.

* Everyone, once in their life, should visit a sale at OKC stockyards. It's just hard to describe...

 

[Ridgetop]

That is interesting. I would have thought that Texas or any of the other big range cattle states would require paperwork on transport. Cattle being high $$ in Texas and other range states. Rustling still goes on.

Transporting sheep, goats, horses, cattle, across state lines does require certain health checks and bloodwork pertaining to each species which are set by the individual states. That is usually the responsibility of the seller/shipper. The seller had to get bloodwork done on the Oregon ram I bought at the on line sale last year. It accompanied the sale paperwork when I picked him up. None needed for California to California sales, except what the buyer requests. If it is something special the buyer would pay for it.

Occasionally certain counties will ban transport of certain animals during times of disease outbreaks. For instance, a 4-H leader friend said there might not be any poultry at some of the fairs this year due to an outbreak. One year in L.A. county only terminal hogs were allowed to be brought in for the junior ivestock show since there was an outbreak in several of the outlying counties. We can export dairy goats to Mexico, but not import any goats due to the prevalence of bruccellosis in Mexico.

It is always a good idea to check on the state (and possibly county) importation regs before bringing in any livestock.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Being a retired truck driver, I can tell ya that I haven't seen a scale house, inspection station, or port of entry that couldn't be avoided by traveling "backroads"....it is called "dodging the coops".....some states close their entry scales at sundown and many just ride by and wave.....if someone is stealing livestock they certainly won't be on the major highways and they don't care about breaking a few more laws.....

 

[greybeard]

That is interesting. I would have thought that Texas or any of the other big range cattle states would require paperwork on transport. Cattle being high $$ in Texas and other range states. Rustling still goes on.

We aren't as much enamored with or impressed by gooberment regs here as some states.

 

[Bruce]

And cattle rustling used to be good business. Maybe still is

 

[Baymule]

Paperwork just to take your livestock from one place to another sounds like a giant PITA. I guess I just got the independent Texan mindset, that would royally piss me off.