RancHERs retire after seven years

[loric]

RancHERs retire after seven years

What a difference seven years makes. The Loonie was worth 65-cents USD – today it stands nearly par at 98-cents. Ethanol was a word people had to look up in a dictionary and today it graces the covers of Macleans and Time magazine. BSE only happened in the U.K. and was yet to set foot on Canadian soil, wreaking havoc on our cattle producers.

In 2001, when three ranching women became spokespeople for Alberta Beef Producers (ABP), they couldn’t have known what changes the livestock industry had in-store for them.
Seven years ago ABP re-launched the extremely popular and award-winning “If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t Beef,” campaign as the second chapter of one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever. In a progression from the three original male Ranchers figures, the RancHERs, three women, were created as ambassadors of the Alberta Beef industry that all people could relate to.

Erin Butters of Cochrane, a mother of two, is a fifth generation rancher who represents the future of ranching in Alberta. She works with her husband and father on their family’s ranch. She is nearing the completion of her master’s degree in counseling psychology. Erin is a prime example of the generations’ long ranching tradition Alberta Beef Producers is known for.

Patti Scott from Sundre, a fourth generation rancher and a married mother of two, owns and operates a cow-calf ranch entirely on her own. Forging ahead in a male dominated industry, Patti has earned her reputation as a leading producer of Red Angus cattle.

Lenore McLean, a wife, mother and grandmother with over 60 years on the ranch near High River, was honoured by Canada’s Governor General in 1993 for contributions to Canada and the community. She operates a thriving guest ranch in addition to her daily ranch duties. Lenore’s family has been ranching in Alberta for five generations.

ABP will be honouring these women for their years of dedication and service to Alberta’s beef industry during the Semi Annual Meeting held at the Edmonton Delta South Hotel. Media are invited to attend the banquet where a presentation will be made on the evening of Tuesday, June 10th. ABP is working on a new marketing and promotional campaign, with a few fun teaser events to be given during the meeting.

[wd40]

It too bad ABP didn't chose the 3 teenagers from Moose Jaw that woke Canada up to quite eating burgers from Burger King cause it was of shore beef.
Maybe if the 3 Alta. ranch cowgirls would start to holler from the top of the corral fence about the lack of leadership and real sucess comming from the Calgary ivory tower maybe thing would be different!

[coppertop]

Excellent post wd40 !!! There are scads of farm women that should be honored for their contributions on and off the farm.

[grassfarmer]

Good post WD40, had to chuckle.
As for "Erin Butters.... who represents the future of ranching in Alberta. She works with her husband and father on their family�s ranch. She is nearing the completion of her master�s degree in counseling psychology." give me a break - what is she going to be a cow whisperer?
The real shame is that ABP does not and will not represent those of us who seek to be the future of ranching in Alberta. As long as it continues to be run by the foothills playboy mafia nothing will change.

[per]

Hey come on guys. The Ranchers were just actors in an add and Ambassador campaign. They represented the beef industry professionally and with grace. Say what you will about the ABP, you can't blame all their folly on the actors.

[farmers_son]

I do not understand where these comments come from. These are three accomplished women who represented our industry extremely well. Why can't farm and ranch women be portrayed as smart and good looking too? I think it is great that Erin Butters is pursing a difficult degree. The days of being a farmer or rancher because you do not have the IQ to do anything else are way past us, if those days ever existed.

I know my wife is both smart and good looking. She has two university degrees and can calve a cow and run a tractor too. She has done a great job of raising the kids, working off farm, keeping the house and garden nice. She isn't much of a cow whisper, she is more likely to swat them with a stock cane. I can still run after a cow faster then she can though :-).

The reality is that today the woman on the farm is an equal partner to the man.

When ABP came out with the three cowboys to represent Alberta Beef no one thought that could be topped. Yet the RancHERs did top it and that image helped carry our industry through the BSE crisis. Those three gals made every one of us lot of money.

[grassfarmer]

Maybe for the next campaign we could have "Packers" with a picture of a prosperous meat plant executive, his Sudanese immigrant (slave) worker and a destitute Alberta producer dressed in his off-farm job oilfield clothes. A truer representation of the future (and present) of the Alberta cattle industry.

[InAHurry]

wd40 coppertop grassfarmer per, as grassroot producers explain to us and detail the message of the ad that you think should be used. As farmersson stated there are very knowledgable persons 'on the ranch'. Your ideas may very well be more successful than that of an ad firms setup . Won't hurt to give it a shot / please lets hear your ideas

[jensend]

i think grassfarmer's picture should be shot in an empty feedlot pen. that would make the picture more representative of the situation.

[jensend]

farmers_son has told us that the canadian cattle industry will be sustainable when all ranch wives are university educated and can earn good money off the ranch. i guess that's the easier option to imagine than finding leadership that understand the industry.

[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...