RancHERs retire after seven years

[loric]

What's wrong with working towards a masters degree? In my family, everyone is expected to go to college or university to get some piece of paper. We have found that it makes us better cattlemen because each one of us has gone away and met new people, had new experiences and developed a more unique perspective on world. This couldn't have been done if we were chained to the farm. Everyone has a different perspective on raising cattle, and what better way to learn than by leaving the farm to learn from someone other than your own family?

Erin Butters works fulltime on the ranch, raises two children and uses any free time she has to work towards her educational goals. I think she is a wonderful role model for anyone. She is well-spoken, polite, informed and very intellent. To top it all off - she is a hard worker and genuinely committed to agriculture. Just because she is not pursueing an education in agriculture, doesn't mean she wants to be a cow whisperer as you refered to her grassfarmer.

The RancHERs' job is to promote Alberta Beef - mostly to the consumer side. If you think showing processors and feedlots to John and Jane Smith looking to buy a hamburger in the grocery store is going to give them a good feeling about cattle - I think you may be wrong. They want to see an image of fresh, clean and Alberta-raised when they think about choosing between a chicken and steak.

As you can probably tell, I work for ABP and part of my job as communications manager is to collect editorial on the cattle industry and to keep up-to-date on a few forums. Normally I keep my posts to information only - but I felt I most respond to this one with a more personal note.

I may work in this "ivory tower" as you call it, but I assure you - many people have remarkable backgrounds (and even a few masters degrees and PhDs thrown in for good measure) and are here because we believe in this industry. I come from a purebred cattle background myself. I spent several years living on the big feedlots in Australia learning about their domestic and international operations as well as nutritional and feeding regimes. In between, I also ran a purebred operation of my own in Queensland. When I moved back to Canada, my mixture of a journalism background and cattle knowledge led me here to ABP. We are not all townies working in this tower....some of us are cattle producers ourselves and pay a check-off too.

[grassfarmer]

I don't have anything against the women featured in the ads and I certainly don't have anything against education. I do thing the ads were very symptomatic of the problems of ABP as a representative organisation - all big hats and fancy western wear. We have a few producers attend our local fall meetings, dressed to the nines in their cowboy gear who are obviously not real cowboys. They're not lean enough or tanned enough to have spent long in the saddle in Alberta chasing cows. Some of these characters even propose raising the ABP checkoff every year - enough said!

If the purpose of the Ranchers ads was to sell beef to consumers did the US consumers who eat our beef increase their consumption as a result? Or was it only targeted at Canadian consumers? Either way if the purpose was to sell more beef why does my checkoff dollar fund this activity? I sell live cattle not beef into the commodity system. The only beef I sell is advertised,promoted and sold by my own efforts not ABP funded ones. Should the packers, retailers not be paying for the generic advertising of the beef they sell?

jensend, I can see the TV ad now... the packer, immigrant worker and part time rancher in a derelict feedlot with Cindy Lauper's "True colors" playing in the background as the actors proudly hold up their ABP banner ;o)

[grassfarmer]

loric,
As far as image goes yes, it's great to picture the Rockies and an image of clean Alberta air - it's rather misleading the consumer though isn't it as the majority of our beef is raised in dusty, smelly feedlots with the use of hormone implants and routine antibiotics?
No wonder you want to conceal that truth from the consumer.
How about changing our production methods rather than our ad agencies?

[per]

Just for the record. I thought the RancHers campaign was a well thought out professional bit of art. It put a positive face on the industry. The ladies showed some that were in a different paradigm another perspective. I haven't given much thought to the next campaign or what should be in it or what it is advertising. As far as education is concerned, many of us and our wives are educated. I never said that was a bad thing and good for Erin. If you go back and read my post, I was defending the campaign in the first place.

[loric]

Thanks Per....I took note that you thought the campaign was good. Thank you for your positive thoughts. They have served us well over the years. before the women took over the reins, we had three men in the picture. It was well before my time however, so I cannot speak for that promotion.

I just wanted to get the point across that educated women (including ones studying counseling psychology)who work on the farm are great spokespeople for this province's cattle industry. I am sorry that there are people out there who are disappointed with the people we choose. I guess we can't please everyone can we?

But dare I say.....I'm pretty sure there won't be dusty feedlots and slaughter facilities in the next ad campaign. Call me crazy...

[jensend]

i guess i just don't see what their educational pursuits have to do with the credibility of abp. there's about fifteen years of post secondary wandering around this place and we think abp is a puppet of the packers.

[rookie]

Maybe we need the phyc degree people to read inbetwwen the lines for us.........

The spokes people did a job we can brag about, does anyone know who the 3 cowboys were before them...

And its just frustrating for producers because the future just doesn't look all that rosy. Simple frustration and stress.

We need to find some positive motivation ( works for me sometimes) heck, I just cleaned off my desk today and read some optomistic words about the industry and found them in the most unlikely spot...a Creech bull catolog....

[grassfarmer]

So just to clarify - what has been the cost of the RancHers campaign to date/or on an annual basis?
How much of this cost has been paid by the beef processing or retailing sectors of the production chain?

[loric]

I'll do my best to find out the costs of the RancHERs stuff. I know they get paid an honorarium when they work trade show booths. It's not too often that they all work together....just a few of the bigger equations. They also get paid their travel time.

And as far as optimism from a bull sale catalog...us purebred guys have to be optimistic. You can't sell bulls to commercial guys who are pessimistic. It tends to make it harder to sell them.

[coppertop]

Around this place there aren't chaps and ten gallon hats, it's old jeans, likely a fleece or denim jacket and rubber boots this time of year with a lot of cow --- on them.
The women in the ads aren't the problem, all very accomplished and likely very hard working.
They do, for the most part, represent the Calgary/Cochrane/Longview area of the province and there are a few cowgals elsewhere too.
The image is trying to sell beef, which may or may not have benefitted the industry, but the image portrayed is not the REAL WORLD farm women operate in.
Just a question : Is Erin Butters related in any way to Eric Butters ????