Watch for our staff at bull sales

Commercial fieldman Brian Good is on the road at a number of bull sales. Brian's tentative schedule for the next two weeks is:

• KFC Farms February 26 & 27
• Remington March 2
• Lloydminster Bull Sale March 7 & 8
• Bar EL March 11
• ARDA March 12
• LLB March 13

CEO Doug Fee and Assistant General Manager Michael Latimer will be at the Calgary Bull Sale on March 3 & 4.


Don't forget to check our events calendar to find Angus bull sales near you.


Posted by Tina Zakowsky
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

2010 GOAL Conference

The 2010 GOAL conference was an outstanding event. It was very beneficial to our Junior members to have time to get together where they are able to socialize, learn life skills and gain insights into the industry with minimal parental involvement and without the added pressure of caring for cattle at an event.

The Juniors had the opportunity to tour the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, GenServe Laboratories and the Canadian Light Source. The Board of Directors of the Canadian Angus Association joined the Juniors on Friday evening for dinner as the Board meeting was also held in Saskatoon. The Juniors then went to play on waterslides and enjoy sundaes.

On Saturday, 1998 Olympic gold medallist in women's curling Joan McKusker, gave the keynote speech titled "Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things". The day wound up at Champetre County, a small French community east of Saskatoon, where the Juniors had to find their way out of a maze, enjoyed sleigh rides, supper, entertainment from a five-time Australian bull whip champion and square dancing lessons.

Sunday our very own Kajal Devani gave a presentation to help Juniors understand population genetics and management of genetic defects. Many came prepared with questions. We learned that candy is a great motivator to encourage participation!

It was great to see the Juniors form new friendships and achieve a sense of camaraderie. We really appreciate being invited to join in the weekend activities. We really enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot.


Posted by Michael Latimer & Kajal Devani
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Business Tools for Purebred Cattle Producers

In this tough financial time when lenders are less able to give loans to agricultural producers and profit margins are tight, it is more important than ever to have a comprehensive understanding of your operation costs. The Canadian Beef Breeds Council, an industry association that represents all of Canada's purebred beef cattle producers, has created a program that will help you analyze your cost of production along with the benchmarked average of all producers. The program has been custom designed for Canadian purebred beef producers and the information can be shared with your accountant or bank.

The CBBC program is a management tool designed to help you make critical financial decisions. A series of "webinars" started last month, but producers can join the program at any time. If you did not receive a copy of the program, it is available online.

Posted by Michael Latimer
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

It's Bull Sale Season

Bull sale season has begun. You can find many bull sales listed on our Events Calendar. You can also look up registered animals for sale in our online sale catalogue listing. Both of these services are free if you take advantage of the Canadian Angus Association's Pedigree Extract Service.

The cost for a pedigree extract is $2/animal if the registration number is sent electronically in an Excel file and $5/animal if the registration number is not sent electronically or if only the tattoo is provided. Photos can be added at a cost of $3/animal. Contact Kajal to request your pedigree extract.

Posted by Tina Zakowsky
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Weekend in Saskatchewan

It was cold and stormy in Saskatchewan this weekend, but that didn't stop dedicated cattle producers from braving the wintery weather to attend the Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association and Saskatchewan Angus Association annual meetings.

Dale Easton, Karla Hicks, Jason Frey and Adam Knutson have been acclaimed to the provincial board of directors. There will be an election in Saskatchewan for the Canadian Angus Association board of directors. Kevin Blair and Jon Fox were nominated for the seat that will be vacated by Bob Switzer in June, as his term as Past President ends. Nominations will be accepted until January 31. For more information or to nominate someone, contact Belinda Wagner at office@saskatchewanangus.com.

Saskatchewan's 2010 Honourary President is John Willmott and Howe Red Angus is the 2010 Breeder of the Year for Saskatchewan. Congratulations to these deserving honourees.


Posted by Michael Latimer
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Are You Smarter than the Canadian Angus Juniors?

The Juniors and I would like to invite Canadian Angus breeders to challenge us with questions. There is a prize for the member who stumps us!

Please submit all your Canadian Angus related questions to me at kajal1@cdnangus.ca. You can ask about the Canadian Angus Performance Program, genomics, or the name of the first Angus animal born in Canada. I will take all the questions to the GOAL conference in February and will try to answer them with the help of all the Junior members attending. Questions and answers will be posted on the website after the conference.

The deadline to submit your questions is February 16.

Good luck members! Even better luck Juniors!


Posted by Kajal Devani
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Provincial Annual Meetings

We have a few notes to share about the recent annual meetings in Manitoba and Alberta. CEO Doug Fee attended both and reports on positive meetings and two gung-ho groups of people.

The Manitoba meeting was well attended. "Hats off to the Manitoba Angus Association for running a meeting with four other breed associations. It's great for everyone to meet in one place like this," Doug said upon his return. He also reports that the roundtable discussions were excellent and provided some great ideas.

Doug, Assistant General Manager Michael Latimer, and four of the five Alberta directors attended Sunday's Alberta Angus annual meeting. Gary Latimer and Cecilie Fleming, the Canadian Angus Association directors for Alberta were re-elected by acclamation. Congratulations to Doug Reid, recipient of the Cecilie Fleming Spirit of Angus Award and Emily Pugh, recipient of the Dorothy Banks scholarship. The new directors of the Alberta board are Richard Latimer, Ricki Fleming, Carolyn Congdon, Laurie Hunter and Blake MacMillan.

Doug reports that the big challenge for Angus producers in 2010 is to get Angus tags into qualified commercial animals. Visit our website for information on the Angus tag program.

The next meeting is the Saskatchewan annual meeting on Saturday. Michael will attend on behalf of the Canadian Angus Association.

Posted by Tina Zakowsky
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Canadian Angus Tops in Denver

We at the Canadian Angus Association are thrilled to hear about the success of Canadian Angus animals at the National Western Stock Show.

At the Red Angus show, Red Northline Trueblood 341T owned by Howard Schneider of Ardrossan, Alberta was named Grand Champion Bull and Red Lazy MC Cowboy Cut 26U owned by Clint and Angela Morasch of Bassano, Alberta was named Reserve Grand Champion Bull. The Grand Champion Female is Red Sooline Rainbow 9230, bred by Roger Hardy of Midale, Saskatchewan.

At the Black Angus Show, Justamere 406S Panamajack 336U was named Reserve Champion Bull owned by Jonathon Fox of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. The Black Angus females will show on Friday, January 15.

Congratulations to these Canadian Angus breeders! We're all proud of your success.

Posted by Tina Zakowsky