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News: Cattlemen's Young Leaders Program Mentors Announced.

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    News: Cattlemen's Young Leaders Program Mentors Announced.

    Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Program Mentors Announced

    News Release

    September 28, 2010

    Calgary, AB – The Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) Development Program is pleased to announce the industry leaders who will mentor the Alberta participants in the pilot phase of the mentorship initiative.



    The CYL program, a national youth initiative of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), provides industry-specific training and mentorship opportunities to producers between the ages of 18 and 35. This experience will provide CYL participants with the opportunity to explore a potential career choice or involvement with a provincial/national producer organization, while gaining the expertise and business acumen necessary to sustain the cattle industry into the future.



    The CYL program also welcomes the Canadian Cattlemen Magazine as an Official Supporter. Canada’s only national beef publication will profile candidates with their mentors in a special section called Young Leaders. These stories will provide readers with insight on the CYL program participants' experiences, with an emphasis of where they see themselves fitting in as a future leader in the beef industry.



    The CYL program mentors are:



    Mentors: Dr. Michael Jelinski and Dr. Craig Dorin

    Area: Animal Health

    CYL Participant: Ricki Fleming



    Drs. Jelinski and Dorin are managing partners in Veterinary Agri-Health Services Ltd., a beef cattle consulting practice based in Airdrie, AB. The practice focuses on the design, implementation and monitoring of production, health and Beef Quality Assurance protocols for cow/calf and feedlot operations across western Canada.



    Drs. Jelinski and Dorin are an affiliate clinic for the University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine - Distributed Veterinary Teaching Hospital program and are involved in teaching of 3rd and 4th year students. The duo conduct contract research projects for pharmaceutical companies and are involved in numerous committees related to the beef industry.



    Mentor: Judy Nelson

    Area: Beef Marketing

    CYL Participant: Nanita Blomquist



    Nelson and her husband run a commercial cow/calf operation on deeded and Crown land on the eastern slopes of the Livingstone Range, north of Lundbreck, AB.



    Nelson is a long-standing delegate for the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP). She also sits as an ABP delegate for the Beef Information Centre (BIC), a committee she currently chairs. Her focus is on promotional and marketing strategies for Canadian beef.



    Mentor: Brad Wildeman

    Area: Domestic Issues & Foreign Trade

    CYL Participant: Keith Ypma



    Wildeman has served the CCA for more than 11 years in various capacities including President from 2008 to 2010, and chair of the Foreign Trade Committee. He is currently the CCA’s Past President.



    President of Pound-Maker Agventures Ltd., Wildeman oversees a 28,500 head, one-time capacity cattle finishing operation, plus a 13-million-litre ethanol facility located in Lanigan, SK.



    Wildeman has received numerous prestigious awards in recognition of his extensive service to the Canadian agriculture and livestock industries. He currently serves as an advisor to the federal Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz, as a member of the Federal Beef Roundtable. Wildeman also chairs a committee for the development of the CYL program.



    Mentors: Scott Entz, Derek Hill

    Area: Beef Marketing

    CYL Participant: Cody Schooten



    Entz has spent 22 years with Cargill involved in the North American Meat industry. Trained as an Agriculture Engineer, Entz spent his early career with Cargill leading construction projects to expand Cargill’s beef processing capabilities, including finishing the construction of the High River facility and creating/leading the engineering, rendering and maintenance for the first three years of the facility’s operations.



    Throughout his career, Entz has jumped at opportunities to lead Cargill’s further processed red meat business as well as Cargill Meat’s Information Technology and Engineering teams. He is currently based in High River, AB.



    Hill is the Facilities Manager at the Cargill Value Added Meats Facility in Spruce Grove, AB. He currently manages the frozen beef patty business that supplies a leading international quick service restaurant (QSR). Serving millions of consumers per day, the plant is heavily focused on food safety and quality.



    Prior to moving to Alberta two years ago, Hill held various positions in Cargill’s poultry business in London, ON, also serving the QSR market. Derek is a member of the Alberta Meat and Livestock Agency (ALMA) advisory committee for Innovation and Further Processing.



    Mentor: Diane Finstad

    Area: Communications

    CYL Participant: Rosie Templeton



    Finstad is a familiar face and voice in Alberta's farm community. She has spent nearly 30 years covering the agriculture and rodeo beat from Red Deer and has been involved in TV broadcasting, radio and newspaper reporting.



    The award-winning Finstad is currently the Agriculture and Rodeo Director for CKGY Radio in Red Deer. Her daily broadcasts on 95.5 FM and other Newcap radio stations keep listeners up to date with developments in the industry.



    Mentor: Jordan Buba

    Area: Seedstock operation

    CYL Participant: Samantha Sperber



    Buba, with her family, operate Lewis Farms, a fourth generation family operation which produces grain, seed potatoes and purebred Simmental and Angus cattle. Buba returned to the farm full time following the completion of the Livestock Production diploma course at Lakeland College in 2007.



    Lewis Farms calve out about 900 mother cows in two calving periods at two locations. The winter calving is done at the Spruce Grove location, where the crops are grown. The summer cows are calved out at the Sangudo farm, where the majority of summer pasturing is done. Lewis Farms has an annual bull sale at the Spruce Grove location, selling just over 200 Simmental and Angus herd sire prospects.

    #2
    Wow, that's a let down. Last time I checked, beef was food. Anyone put any thought into teaching young farmers about growing safe, nutrient dense beef? THere's someone there to teach them how to follow vacc. protocols, how to fatten them in a feedlot, how to sell to the packer to keep the floor busy, how to keep ABP happy, and of course, someone to show them how to overfeed bulls and flood the market, while averaging $4000 per bull.

    But who's going to teach them about the effects of confinement feeding on E.Coli H0157 levels in the rumen, how feeding on grass can eliminate that, how only grazing lush pastures will ensure healthy levels of CLA, or proper ratios of Omega 3-6 fatty acids, or even something as basic as taking a Brix reading of pastures to ensure the forage is nutrient dense? Let alone take a soil sample to ensure we're starting from scratch with a chance of producing healthy beef.

    This A-Team sounds like it was hand picked by INDUSTRY. Oh, wait, they even called it industry-specific didn't they? Ooops, disregard my rant because apparently anyone who doesn't produce commodity beef is irrelevant, as are their opinions.

    Comment


      #3
      Don't feel alone. The less conventional
      we get (older fashioned?) the more
      profitable we have become and the less
      comfortable with "industry".
      And on the bright side, now you know at
      least one other person with a Brix meter.

      Comment

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