This year GOAL was once again
not just an opportunity to learn about the beef industry, but an event to make
connections, experience unique activities and meet great people all while
sharing appreciation for the Angus breed! This year GOAL was located in
Winnipeg, Manitoba and as I stepped into the cool Winnipeg air, excitement
buzzed through my body. Over the three days that we spent in Winnipeg, we were
able to hear many different speakers talk about beef cattle and different
techniques for managing them.
The conference started with some
icebreaker games to help all the participants get to know each other better.
The first speaker of the day was Erika Easton from Farm Credit Canada. She
spoke to us about how to approach getting a loan for your operation and helped
us work through an application as a group.
A speaker that I learned a lot
from was Lance Stockbrugger. He did two different presentations. The first was
titled “Succession and Taxes, Both are Certain”. It focused on how to prepare
farms so that they can be passed on in a financially stable and comfortable way
for both parties. We also learned about the special way that farming is taxed
and how to use it to benefit us the most. His second presentation was “Against
the Odds” after dinner. In this presentation Stockbrugger told us about his
farm and the journey that got them to where they are today. Over the years they
had a few setbacks but they managed to get past them and create a successful
business. Their story is a great example of how with hard work and perseverance
you can be successful.
Finally, Macy Liebreich, our
Junior Angus Ambassador then talked about her year as Ambassador and the
awesome opportunities she has been given by holding that position. She
encouraged all Juniors to apply for the position.
Apart from speakers, the first
evening we enjoyed a fancy dinner where we all got dressed up and got to
practice our dinner etiquette. The Juniors were all split up and assigned seats
throughout the dining room to meet new people. At first some of the motions
felt awkward but by the end most of us were dining like pros. This skill will
be important in the near future and I am really glad we got the opportunity to
take part in the lessons. Later in the evening we enjoyed some fun games
including musical chairs, whose line is it anyway, lovers leap and had a quick
“fake” auction for fun! Nevertheless we were all tired and ready to go to sleep
after a jam packed first day.
The next morning we went to the
Human Rights Museum. Every single detail of the museum had multiple meanings;
from the architecture to the rocks, everything was an important symbol. Our
tour guide explained to us about how many Canadians of different races were
being treated unequally, and how women were also not treated fairly for quite
some time. Aside from the information we learned, the museum itself was
amazing! It had seven floors and a big tower on the top with an elevator that took
us to the top where there was a great view of Winnipeg. After the museum we
were given a short amount of free time to explore the Forks shopping complex or
skate outside.
After lunch the Foundation
Legacy Scholarship panel discussion was held. As usual the five candidates were
very qualified and did an excellent job. Our CEO Rob Smith asked a variety of
questions of the finalists and they were judged on their responses.
Congratulations to Chris Jeremy for winning first place and receiving $5,000;
Lexi Hicks for placing second and receiving $3,000 and Alexis DeCorby placed
third and received $2,000 as well as Brianna Kimmel and Heidi Tymko receiving
runner up and $500 each.
That afternoon our first speaker
was Andre Steppler. He did a presentation on marketing that had a fresh, modern
spin on it. He explained how he uses social media to promote his product and
what we can do to promote ours. He found that Facebook was a very successful
form of media to use because that is where the consumers are right now. Through
Facebook, Steppler posts videos about everyday life at their farm as well as
showcase pieces. I enjoyed this presentation because it showed us different
ways to change our marketing styles to fit consumers.
Next Dr. David Hamilton came and
spoke to us about embryo transfers. We learned a little bit about the history
of embryo transplants as well as the different techniques and technologies used
for embryo transfer today.
That evening we went to a dinner
theatre that was very new experience! We watched a comedy play and between
scenes we were served dinner. All of the servers were in character and they
even pulled people out of the crowd to dance on stage. It was a really fun way
to have dinner. Later that night we went to a board game café. Basically it was
a little coffee shop that had over 1,000 board games. We all played games and
got to know one another. Many laughs were shared that night.
Monday morning started off
bright and early with a presentation from Bob Toner. He spoke about “Acquiring
and Keeping your Customers.” I learned a lot about how to gain customers, but
more importantly how to keep customers. One very important way of doing this
for Mr. Toner was to keep “Customer Files.” These files included lots of
information such as customer contact information, past purchases, details about
their own cow herd, family members, pictures of the customers, and their
preferences in cattle (price range, size, type.) He also talked to us about how
it is very important to keep in contact with your customers to make sure that
they are satisfied with the product, and to address any issues that there may
be.
Next we had Jonathan Bouw speak
about “Inputs, Production & Profitability”. He had a lot of interesting
ideas that he uses on his operation to give him an edge. He spoke about bale
grazing, purchasing hay instead of making it, calving later in the year and
pasture management through rotating grazing and feeding grounds. Lastly, Meghan
McGillivray and Macy Liebreich gave reports about the opportunities the CJA
offers to its members as well as a report on the Junior trip to the WAF in
Scotland this past year. It was great to hear about all of their experiences
and definitely made us want to apply for some of these opportunities in the
future!
The conference closed with
speeches from retiring CJA Directors Raina Syrnyk and Ella Wood. Once those
closed, we said our goodbyes to new and old friends as we all parted ways. GOAL
Conference was an amazing experience and I am really glad that I was able to
attend. I learned so much, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun if I hadn’t
met so many great people there. I really look forward to the 2019 GOAL
conference, and I hope that I can attend more CJAA events in the future!
I would like to personally thank
Canadian Junior Angus and the Canadian Angus Foundation for the endless
opportunities they provide to Junior members as well as Belinda Wagner for
everything that she does for the Association and especially all of us Juniors.
We wouldn’t be able to do all of this without you!
By
Alana and Emalee Higgins
