On delayed castration: “You pick up the extra weight, and you have a more muscular, slimmer calf that isn’t carrying a lot of extra flesh at weaning. When I background them, they just keep growing. A bull calf will be in a body condition that is more advantageous for weight gain than a steer. In my program, I go to rye pasture with them, and you can just about see them grow. I’ve had two or three neighbors tell me they thought their calves stayed healthier and more athletic. They swear they don’t have fall pneumonia in their bull calves like they used to, thanks to delayed castration.” Tom Hendrix, Colorado

“We like it a lot because it has a low complication rate, and that’s a real plus. We can teach people to use it very effectively and feel comfortable about it. It’s a great tool. It’s just a little easier and quicker to use than any other banding tools on the market, which is important, especially when you are doing a large number of animals. It works on any size of animal and anybody can use it. That’s the bottom line. The company also has a very good service program. If there’s something wrong, you can send it back, and they will fix it up for you.”

“Compared to surgical castration, I feel more comfortable teaching a good crew how to band.” Lynn Locatelli, DVM, Nebraska

“We usually try to get the calves started on feed and then I band them and it doesn’t slow them up a bit. I band some pretty big bulls, too, and they never miss a feeding. I do everything myself, and it’s nice to be able to run them through the chute. I don’t have to wrangle them at the stage when they are hard to wrangle. I leave my own bull calves intact to about 600 pounds, which means they stay healthier and perform better.” Dan Fields, Kansas

“Placing a high-tension band on the scrotum appears to generate a more localized immune response than surgical castration. And, if done properly, (banding) doesn’t result in any apparent depression of the animal’s appetite or rate of gain. At weaning, banded calves are typically 20 lbs. heavier than those that are surgically castrated. The surgically castrated calves will catch up, but they need more days on feed to do it.”

On elastrator rings put on at birth: “I think it affects the animal’s growth. Testosterone is a muscle builder, so when you take that away, it could limit performance.”

“The bottom line is that high-tension banding is faster, easier and less traumatic for the animal than surgical castration. Even if it didn’t return an extra 10-20 lbs at weaning, it would still be a great benefit to animal managers.” Matt Sween, University of California-Davis Animal Science Department

“If you’ve got animals with good carcass traits, leave them intact as long as possible to take advantage of performance.” Dale ZoBell, Utah State Extension Beef Specialist

On tail docking (a practice used in dairies where sanitation in milking barns and parlors is an issue): “It goes on so much easier and quicker. You are saving so much time that it pays for the band. It’s really worked well for me. I just haven’t had any trouble. I think the tails swell up less, because it’s tighter. That alleviates stress on the animals.” Greg Palmquist, DVM, Wisconsin

On utilizing banding for castrating older bulls: “Banding has proven to be an outstanding alternative in that situation to knife castration. With surgical castration we had a rate of 8-9 percent complications with 1-2 percent of those being severe. With banding, we have few problems.” Dee Griffin, DVM, University of Nebraska Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center

“For purebred producers, leaving bulls intact to heavier weights creates an opportunity to select bulls that may make good commercial cleanup bulls.” “Anyone we have ever started banding their calves has liked it.” Ralph Miller, DVM, Montana “ ……………obtained a great deal of positive feedback from the many happy users who dropped in for a chat at the ProBeef booth.” John Griffin, Australia I have had a Callicrate Bander for about four years. It has never failed me, and never failed to do its job on all size cattle I have used it on. It has been the best piece of equipment on my farm. I have yet to even change a pull string. Kenneth Newton, Collins MO

We started using the bander in September of 2004, and I was a little leary. Well, 2,000 head later, NOT ONE PROBLEM!

My 82 yr old dad told me to switch from “sharp pocket knife and count to two”. I was skeptical – had used rubber rings and had a train wreck. The Callicrate Bander was phenomenal. 102 – 112 heat index and no problem. We use it on our cattle and on customer cattle. You can castrate from 200-1200 lbs., but we normally castrate at 575-675 lbs. A good option if raising ‘natural’ beef. Five or six of our customers have started using it. Thanks, Cheers! George Chambers, Carrollton GA

I bought a small group of five Jersey steers about six weeks ago. Three of them were banded with the normal green bands. I just lost one of the steers to an infection caused by the band. The green bands are all the same tightness and obviously the band was not tight enough and I lost a $500 steer. This has never happened to me with the Callicrate Bander because the tightness is always perfect. The risk of infection with the Callicrate bander is negligible because blood supply is completely cut off.

The Callicrate bander is the cat’s meow when it comes to fixing prolapses on sheep. My vet used your elasticator yesterday to fix an anal prolapse on a lamb. It worked great!!!! Fixing a prolapse now becomes about the 65th thing your invention can do. I saved two lambs this year because of the bander. Thanks for making such a quality product. Jeffrey, Boscobel WI

I love your banding system; there is no stress and they (cattle) don’t go off feed. At least, that has been how it has been when they are calves on the cows. This is my first experience banding older ones.

I was one of the first ones in this area to use the Callicrate bander and even introduced my vet to it. We used it for prolapses way before the big bands came out. Worked like a charm and my vet bought one of her own after borrowing mine. We have also used it to dehorn older cattle. The horn usually falls off in about 3 weeks; bloodless!! Robyn, Great Falls MT

We have the Callicrate Bander and love using it on our cattle. I can’t believe how easy it is and the cattle don’t seem to mind it at all. I am a firm believer. I’m still singing praises regarding the Callicrate Bander.Peggy, Grants Pass OR

Saturday, Dad and I were looking at our cattle and he said, “buying that bander was the best investment we’ve made in a long time.” Keep in mind Dad is 78 and the idea of being able to castrate large animals with that much ease is hard for him to comprehend. My brother and I work full time jobs and come back to the farm on weekends or days off and the Callicrate Bander is a tool that allows us to manage our farm more efficiently. Now, we can allow our bull calves the opportunity to grow larger and then castrate them, thus increasing our bottom line. Thanks for your speedy delivery of the items that I requested. I have used the Callicrate Bander and it does what your video and advertisements claim.

The Callicrate Banding system is a great asset to our operation! The Callicrate cutter is great for removing old ear tags, in addition to cutting the loops. Gary, Marion VA

Talked to you a while back about your bander being used on yearling ram lambs. You told me it would work and boy did it. Twenty eight days and they fell off. Patrick, Lake Elsinore C