## Facts

- The reported case is *Cooperative Fin. Ass’n, Inc. v. B & J Cattle Co.*, decided by the Colorado Court of Appeals in 1997 and published at 937 P.2d 915.
- The dispute involved Cooperative Financial Association, Inc. (a financing entity asserting secured-creditor rights) and B & J Cattle Co. (a cattle-related business asserting competing rights in cattle or their proceeds).
- Secondary UCC materials cite this case in connection with Article 9 secured-transactions problems involving livestock and how such goods are classified for secured-creditor purposes.
- Publicly accessible sources reviewed do not provide the full opinion text (or a reliable headnote summary), so the detailed transactional background (e.g., the debtor’s identity, the precise sale/financing arrangement, and the trial-court posture) cannot be confirmed from those sources.
- Based on how later sources reference the decision, the case addressed competing claims governed by Colorado’s version of UCC Article 9 where classification of livestock (commonly discussed as “farm products” versus “inventory”) can affect perfection and priority outcomes.

## Issues

1. In an Article 9 contest involving cattle, what classification rules apply to determine whether livestock is treated as “farm products” or “inventory” in the hands of the relevant debtor?
2. How does Article 9’s perfection-and-priority framework resolve competing claims between a secured lender and another claimant connected to the cattle (such as a seller or other party asserting rights in the same goods or proceeds)?
3. What role do the debtor’s business and intended use of the cattle play in determining Article 9 classification for purposes of perfection and priority?

## Decision

- The Colorado Court of Appeals issued a published decision at 937 P.2d 915 addressing an Article 9 secured-transactions dispute involving cattle and competing claims between Cooperative Financial Association, Inc. and B & J Cattle Co.
- Later secondary discussions cite the case as authority used in analyzing livestock collateral classification questions under Article 9.
- Because the opinion text is not available from the accessible sources used here, the specific disposition (which party prevailed), the precise holding language, and the court’s step-by-step reasoning cannot be stated reliably in this brief without risk of error.

## Legal Principles

- Article 9 requires goods to be classified (including livestock) for secured-transactions purposes; that classification can affect perfection, filing choices, and priority analysis.
- In livestock-related disputes, a recurring Article 9 classification question is whether the cattle are “farm products” or “inventory,” a determination that commonly turns on the nature of the debtor’s operations and how the goods are held or used.
- Priority disputes under Article 9 generally turn on attachment, perfection, and the application of statutory priority rules (including any special rules that may apply to inventory, sellers’ remedies, buyers, or proceeds).
- Secondary authorities cite *Cooperative Fin. Ass’n, Inc. v. B & J Cattle Co.*, 937 P.2d 915 (Colo. App. 1997), as part of the body of case law consulted when evaluating those Article 9 classification and priority questions in agricultural or livestock contexts.

## Conclusion

*Cooperative Fin. Ass’n, Inc. v. B & J Cattle Co.*, 937 P.2d 915 (Colo. App. 1997), is a Colorado Court of Appeals decision involving an Article 9 dispute over cattle and competing rights in the livestock (or proceeds), and it is cited in later sources discussing how livestock collateral classification affects secured-creditor priority; without access to the published opinion text, a detailed account of the transaction, procedural posture, and exact holding cannot be provided here.


Cooperative Fin. Ass’n, Inc. v. B & J Cattle Co., 937 P.2d 915 (Colo. App. 1997)