If you ever get the chance to attend the International Livestock Congress in conjunction with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, rest assured you are in for a treat! I had this wonderful opportunity through my CYL Mentorship in early March.

The International Livestock Congress 2017 Conference topic of ‘Balancing Livestock and Water Use For Sustainable Nutrition’ was a great fit with learning new ways to enhance the sustainability of my own operation, one of my mentorship objectives. What an excellent opportunity to broaden my scope of global water and food supply issues and how it relates back to livestock production, not only for the US and the rest of the world but here in Canada as well. A few key topics of discussion included research and innovation of water conserving technologies, maintenance and development of water infrastructure, meeting the increasing global food supply demand, awareness of nutrition and water deficiencies in the development of babies around the world and the economic benefits of countries who are food, water and energy sufficient. It was exciting to see common interests and concerns shared by farmers and Ag students from South America to Africa to Australia to Middle Eastern countries and back to North America and also the efforts being made globally towards more responsible and sustainable water use in food production. It was also interesting to note that Canada is on the leading edge of this with the CRSB and GRSB initiatives.

I was thrilled to bump into fellow CYL participant, Maddy Knodel, who was one of the ILC student travel fellowship recipients along with two other Canadian ladies, Breanna Anderson and Katelyn Stehr. It was great to see Canada so well represented. Congratulations to these three lovely ladies!

On the livestock show side of things, I was lucky enough to take in a few of the different breed showcases. The Angus show, while small in numbers compared to some of the other breeds, had quality cattle that were second to none. And again, being this distance from home it was cool to see the Canadian contingent place in the top. I have to say though, that the Brahman bull and females shows spanning two whole days, were my absolute favorite! There were rows upon rows of these beautiful beasts from weeks old calves aside their momma’s right up to the huge mature sires. As you can imagine, with this being the American Brahman Breeders Association International Show, it is highly prestigious and draws huge numbers of breeders from all over North, Central and South America. It was the perfect place to meet some of the top breeders and learn about the finer points of breed itself.

Mona at teh Red Brahman Show

And of course no trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo would be complete without an evening spent at Rodeo Houston. I was fortunate that the nice ladies on the International committee arranged for me to ride in the Grand Entry. It was a fantastic way to get a first-hand look at the rodeo setup at NRG Stadium and truly appreciate the size of that huge arena floor. The rodeo itself was filled with top-notch competition and the concert afterwards was spectacular.

Aside from all that fun, it was nice to leave behind the snowbanks for a few days and see some green grass and warm temperatures!

Mona Howe

Through the CYL program I had the opportunity to attend the NCBA convention in Nashville at the start of February. I had heard nothing but great things about the convention especially when it is held in Nashville but everything about it still blew me away.

For starters the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center was a spectacle of its own and was the part I was the least prepared for as my image of big didn’t even come close to its actual size. However, when you factor in that there were 8-9000 people attending the conference all in one building it seems a lot more reasonable.

The speakers at the conference were also worth the trip. We heard from a Mt Everest survivor, a media advisor to George Bush, Cattlefax outlooks, and more. Every one of these speakers provided tremendous insight and were great to listen to. This was one of the things that I found the most different than the conferences I’m used to attending is that they focused on a couple major speakers each day rather than having more shorter speakers or breakout sessions throughout the day.

It was also nice to have such a strong contingency of Canadians at the conference including fellow CYL’ers Nicole Viste and Jessica Sperber. Having them as well as past CYL members along with all the other people that I got to reacquaint with or met made the trip fun and educational as I was able to learn a lot from everyone that I got to visit with. Being there with CYL also opened the doors to a lot of cool sessions including. These sessions included the trilateral meeting as well as several Young Beef Leaders Events all of which were certainly worth being a part of. I’m grateful for the opportunities this CYL program provides.

As enjoyable and as beneficial as the conference was, I certainly am interested in attending more in the future. I certainly encourage others to do so as well. I also hope to be able to return to Nashville in the future as the whole city has a cool vibe to it. The Grand Ole Opry is one of few things that could keep me sitting on an old wood bench for hours on end-it was something special for sure.

I want to thank all the sponsors that make the CYL Program able to function the way it does by allowing us to be a part of such a great convention. I know personally this opportunity greatly helps expand my knowledge and network base in the industry and will help me to be more successful now and in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Nashville for the NCBA conference and I look forward to applying what I learned and attending in the future.

Luke Marshall

On the 14th of January my Husband Russell and I drove down to Billings, Montana to attend the Ranching for Profit course. This course was in line with the mentorship objectives I set with my mentor Graeme Finn. We decided that it would be beneficial if both Russell and I went down so we could align our goals and objectives for our cattle operation. We were able to utilize growing forward 2 funding through the Business Management Skills development program to help attend the course and I was also able to utilize a portion of my CYL mentorship budget which was a massive help.

The course started on Sunday the 15th of January and was run by Dallas Mount and Dave Pratt. Right away Russell and I were separated and put on a table of people we hadn’t met before. The logic that being separated we would be exposed to more ideas and take in different things which we could collaborate at the end of each night, share our own findings and have healthy, structural (but sometimes argumentative) discussions. The course was very intense and including doing homework every night in preparation for the next day of class. So if you think there might be some time for a little bit of sightseeing in the evenings like I thought, you would be wrong but it’s worth every penny.

The ranching for profit school is a business school for the livestock industry. Russell and I went down to the school with an open mind, we liked what we saw on the course outline and we are at a stage of our business where we wanted to move forward on the right foot. The course doesn’t give you a step by step plan to make a profit, it gives you the tools in your rancher’s toolbox for you to be able to make better (profitable) decisions for your business. I have a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness, so I thought I would take more away from the grazing side of the course than the economics and finance side. I was completely wrong, I learned more tools to apply to my business during in those 6 days than I did during my years of university.
I can honestly say the course was a life changing experience for me. Russell and I went into the course with paradigms that we had unconsciously set for ourselves and our business and we walked away really challenging these paradigms. And we didn’t just challenge the paradigms, but we could also see solutions that we haven’t been able to see before and a way to move forward to be more sustainable, and that really excited us. There is a lot of great information available in our industry however, it can be difficult to put it all together and that’s where this course really helps you join the dots. Russell and I had so many “Wow”, “light bulb” or “A-Ha” moments during this course it was incredible. We each walked away with a list of action items that we wanted to pursue and feeling really excited about our future in the beef industry.
Thank you to CYL, GF2 and Chinook Financial for giving me the support and opportunity to attend this life changing course.

Mel Hermanson

Taupo, New Zealand
Ellen Crane

Maori carvings on Lake Taupo captured during the fishing trip.

The International Beef Alliance (IBA) is comprised of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay and the United States, which represents 46% of global beef cattle production and 63% of global beef exports. This year, the organization met in Taupo, New Zealand, this beautiful country provided a picturesque agricultural backdrop for the conference. The conference was kicked off on Sunday with introduction presentations by the eight Young Leaders from Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.

Pasture environments created to measure nitrogen output by the production system

On Monday, the Young Leaders met to present their findings on the special topic: How the IBA can connect with ‘Millennials’ to gain support for the Alliance. The team split into the focus groups for animal welfare, sustainability and beef attributes. The group then reconvened to put together a group presentation to be delivered during the general session. The afternoon was followed with a fishing trip on Lake Taupo and official welcome by the Maori tribe.

Tuesday was the first day of local farm visits which began at Glen Emmerth Farms owned by Mike and Sharon Barton. The couple spearheaded the environmentally sustainable brand ‘Taupo Beef’, whose demand is currently exceeding its supply.

Pasture fed feeder cattle part of the Taupo Beef brand.

Along with other farmers in the Lake Taupo catchment (watershed), the farm is also home to a research laboratory studying the total nitrogen output of the operation. The second tour of the day included the Moerangi and Oraukura Station, managed by Barry and Celia Pope. The operation is focused on the integration of sheep and beef at elevations as high as 880m above sea level. We were fortunate to be present during the shearing of the flock. The tour of the woolshed in high production was a fantastic opportunity for the large group of beef producers.

On Wednesday, the group was hosted by John and Catherine Ford at the Highlands Station. The operation focuses on traceability and dairy beef production which sources bull calves from dairy operations to raise as bull beef. The afternoon included a panel discussion on the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP) on three key beef and lamb industry initiatives: RMPP, “New Zealand Story”, and New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme.

Outstanding views from the Highland Station overlooking some of the stations 1240 hectares.

Traditional “Hangi” prepared using hot stones placed underground for six hours

Day one of the general session gave the Young Leaders the opportunity to observe the Delegate presentations from each country and updates on topics including Non-Tariff Barriers, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Global Round Table for Sustainable Beef. Day two of the general session gave the Young Leaders the opportunity to present their findings on the special topic to the Delegates, and was followed by a round of questions. The conference was closed with a delicious, traditionally prepared Maori meal known as a “Hangi” in which beef, lamb and vegetables are placed on hot stones and broiled underground for several hours.

The IBA conference was a tremendous opportunity to network with international delegates. It was a privilege to attend the International Beef Alliance conference on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Young Leader program alongside the other Canadian Delegates. This conference was a truly memorable experience!