October 12 at the WAF - Youth Prospective

Well another big day for the youth competitors. Spending the morning working with the heifers and prepping them for the judging competitions. Three classes of heifers were judged and everyone presented oral reasons. Each team from the different countries shared their way of clipping the heifers. We learned a lot from the British team and Sean and Chad told how we slick shear the heifers and how to grow hair. Another trick that not many knew about was dying cattle hair.

A quick trip to the second-hand store got us ready for our "shit kit" supper. This involved all the teams to dress as wild as possible and share a county themed song. The Canadian team fared well as we won the competition. A highlight for us was the Kiwi teams' haka, a native dance for New Zealand. The organizers also put on a great demonstration of how to prepare bulls for a show. Animal handling (showmanship) takes place tomorrow.

Posted by Melissa McRae 

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Day 2 at the WAF: Cows, Dishes and Rain

Well day two at the World Angus Forum was the day we got to meet our girls. Looks can be deceiving under all the dirt and grime and when we finally got them washed the hair didn't seem too bad for the beginning of summer here! The other teams were razzing us about how long and slanted our stall was as theirs were high and short. There was lots of excitement around the barns today as there was a vet called due to a minor clipping incident.

Today in the team challenge we may not have held our own, putting in posts the old-fashioned way. We may not have won the challenge but we sure did our best and we will get the next round.

The weather has been kinda gloomy as it rained off and on all day.  The food has been plentiful and delicious. The only downside to supper was we had to do dishes... which was painful. Forty plates doesn't seem that many until they are piled up by the sink.  The upside to supper was that our team didn't get fined. We have been well entertained by the Aussies and the Kiwis making the trip very enjoyable and well worth it. We look forward to the days to come!

  
Posted by Erika Easton
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Our Youth Teams Are New Zealand-Bound

The Western Canadian youth team competitors

Well, the team's all here! Or at least those of us from Western Canada are. I can't speak for those that are flying out of Toronto, but we will all meet up in LA and then make the 13-hour flight to New Zealand together. As you can see, we are all decked out in our Angus finest.

A few weeks ago (as if we needed another reason to be excited about this trip), we got packages in the mail from the CAA with our new Team Canada jackets and golf shirts for the agrisports competition. The shirts were ordered in case the weather was too hot to wear the jackets, but judging by the emails we have been getting from CEO Rob who is already over there, maybe we should have ordered matching mittens! Apparently it is snowing! 

Youth team apparel

Although it sounds like many of us were too excited to sleep much last night, everyone is looking wide awake and excited to get on the plane. Although no one seems that excited for the many hours we will spend on a plane in the next 48 hours, everyone is ready to get on with the  getting there. We are quite excited about everything from seeing their cattle and scenery to networking with Angus breeders from across the world and bungee jumping! Everyone is packed and ready to go and we are all prepared to represent Canada well once we get there. And just to let everyone know (because I know there were some of you who were concerned) I managed to pack for the two weeks in one suitcase that weighed in at 49.6 pounds!


Posted by Stacey Domolewski
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Saskatchewan Field Report

I am honoured to represent the Canadian Angus Association as the Saskatchewan fieldman. Here's what I've been up to this summer:
 

July 27

I travelled to Neepawa, MB to attend their summer Gold Show. The show was well attended by both spectators and cattle. A total of 77 head were shown before a three-man judging format. This was a pen show so it was a little hard to take pictures as winners did not come back after announcements. The committee told me they went to a pen show to try and boost entries or they felt the summer show may fail.

I stayed overnight with some friends and then Sunday toured Garbald Farms which is a purebred-commercial operation mid-way between Gladstone and Austin. This is a 350+ cow herd. The owner, Jan Garbald, came from Switzerland and started in Angus but thought that they did not have enough size so he began using Charolais bulls. When this wasn’t working, he switched to Simmental bulls and now he is back to Angus. He claims the other two breeds just couldn’t cut the wet ground and high moisture grass. So after a trip around the block he seems to be satisfied with his herd now.

August 1

I attended the Saskatchewan Gold Show in Prince Albert. It was a beautiful day, just a slight breeze and not too hot. There was a good crowd in attendance with many good cattle. I think the numbers may have been down a bit but the quality was sure there. I was able to have a little visit with Mel Sisson and Dr. Byrne Rothwell, both long-time Angus breeders.

 August 29-30

These were the dates of the Sask Angus/CRAPS summer tour. This tour was held in the Wawota to Peebles area.

We toured six herds in total, three red and three black. They were as follows: Bridgway (R), WRAZ(R), Eastondale (BK), T Bar K (R), GBT (BK) and Johnson Livestock (BK). At T Bar K,  some breeders had cattle on display:  Kenosee Park Angus, JJL Livestock, BBQ Red Angus, Right Cross Ranch, Kennray Angus, Smart Farms, Diamond R Stock Farms and Diamond C Liberty Angus. Our hats are off to Dale Easton and his able crew for organizing such a wonderful tour.

There were about 150 to 200 people that took part in looking at the cattle, socializing and the excellent meals that were provided. There were breeders there from Swift Current into Manitoba and north as far as Meadow Lake.

At the breakfast hosted by GBT Angus on the second morning, we had a presentation by Dr. Kim McLean, Livestock Specialist with the Saskatchewan government. Kim is the daughter of Dave Mclean of DM Angus at Arcola.

Her topic was: "Getting The Most From Your Cow Herd: Tools To Learn And Utilize".

The thrust of the presentation was on EPDs and Genomics. Most people were interested and there were some questions asked. 

 

This was a great opportunity to spread the word about the Angus Tag Sale at Yorkton this fall. Watch for me at Angus sales across Saskatchewan this fall. Be sure to say hello if you're there.

Posted by Laird Senft
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Preserving our History

I had the pleasure of spending time last week with former CEO Doug Fee, Angus breeder Doug Henderson and Director of Field Services Brian Good discussing Canadian Angus history and doing some work in our archives.

As we have started to pack items in preparation for our move to Angus Central, we have realized that we don't have a record of the history behind some of the artwork, trophies and memorabilia. Our Calgary-based summer intern, Katelyn Dietrich, photographed most of our memorabilia and artwork and created a database for us this summer. We're now working on identifying all of these items and capturing the stories that go with them.

Doug Fee dropped by the office to provide some history on items that the Canadian Angus Association acquired during his 17-year tenure as CEO. In addition to the many gifts received from around the world in appreciation of Canada hosting the 1985 and 2009 World Angus Forums and 1999 World Angus Secretariat Technical Meeting, we have received several gifts from trade delegations visiting Canada to learn about our beef. When these delegations have visited the Canadian Angus Association office, they have often brought an item from their country, such as a Japanese tea set.

 

The two wooden plaques pictured above came from the Highlander Hotel in Calgary. Doug purchased the plaques for the Canadian Angus Association archives when the Highlander closed down. Dynamite was a red carrier bull that was purchased in the United States and imported to Canada. He was a very popular and influential Angus bull. We're not sure who Jennifer is....

Not everything in our archives is Angus material. Former President and namesake of the Junior Ambassador program Robert C. McHaffie made a replica oil rig and presented it to the Association. It may not be a replica Angus, but it's a piece of memorabilia that we are proud to have and display.

I had the privilege of working with Doug Fee for five years, and I enjoyed his reminisces about how we came into possession of so many priceless artifacts.

On Thursday, I was honoured to spend most of the day in the presence of a true Angus historian, Doug Henderson. Doug and Brian took me on an incredible journey through Angus history. Brian has donated several of his own family trophies and other mementos to the Angus archives. There were very few items that we looked at for which Doug didn't have a story.

 

We have two prints of the approved “standard type” Canadian Angus animals circa 1930s. These prints come from a time when the federal department of agriculture asked each breed association to provide an approved standard type of their breed for distribution to schools for educational purposes. Doug shared that Ross Butler did all the paintings for all breeds. He also shared that only the pictures of the females hung in schools. Apparently the anatomically correct bulls were deemed inappropriate for display in schools.

Doug was also very excited to discover that we own a copy of Volume 1 of the Polled Herd Book dating back to 1884. This Scottish herd book has the pedigrees of Aberdeen Angus cattle starting with #1, Old Jock. Doug pointed out that very few Angus breeders are aware that Angus cattle had to be "bred up" until 1922. In order to be eligible for registration, a calf had to be sired by a registered Angus bull.

Despite our best collective efforts, there are some items that we have been unable to identify. Once we are settled into Angus Central, we will be looking to our breeders to help us fill in the gaps.

Angus Central will have a large space dedicated to showcasing our breed history. Starting November 1, the Canadian Angus Foundation would be thrilled to accept donations of Angus memorabilia for display in the new archive space. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about donating to the Foundation.

Posted by Tina Zakowsky
Feedback: tzakowsky@cdnangus.ca