An Ag-Tastic Day

I'm a little late on this post, but it's one I have to share with you all.

Blame the five-course load and excessive student club involvement for my shoddy blogging abilities. I certainly do. But time management is a skill I'm working to develop, especially after completing my last two papers in the wee hours of the morning.

Last Saturday was jam-packed with agvocacy. It was one of those days that gives you the boost you need to keep working towards your goals. The kind of day where you're doing what you love, so getting through those impending midterms becomes more of a stepping stone than a roadblock. I'm so poetic today.

My morning started at the crack of 8am in the Butterdome (large, awkwardly yellow building on the University of Alberta campus) to set up for the U of A Open House. I attended the Open House exactly two years before as a wide-eyed high school student, terrified by all the huge buildings and studious-looking people. It was exciting to be on the other side of the booth, helping students decide what they wanted to take and educating them about their options at U of A.

Since I was an Agriculture student for my first year and am now in Ag Business,
I spent the morning hovering between these two booths

I left Open House in the early afternoon to drive about 100km south of the city to a little place called Genessee Community Hall to give a presentation on social media in the beef industry. I was presenting to a group of beef 4-H members and their parents at a regional learning day.

Presenting on different social media platforms

The presentation was on the basics of social media: what it is, how to use it, and how to be safe with it. I couldn't think of a better way to demonstrate the effectiveness of social media than to reach out to my Twitter followers for advice. Below they answered my tweet asking them why they think social media is important for agriculture.

I got the chance to tell the group about the fabulous places social media has taken me (ahem, Nashville) and the great people I have met through it (see just a few of them above). And you can trust that I said great things about all of you.

I'm thankful that all of you are part of my social media story. And I'm thankful to be so passionate about communicating agriculture, and sure that it is where my future is going.

Marketing You

Are you marketing yourself?

While I was networking and meeting new people at YCC in Washington, there was one thing I knew I should have came with. A business card. It's simple, a little old-fashioned, and effective. It's a way to make people remember your name and what you do, and keep in contact with you. I collected tons of business cards (see below) but due to the fact that I'm not exactly a business, had none to give out.

Some of the great people I met last week between ALMA and YCC!

Well, I've decided what I do is worthy of creating business cards for. I made them online tonight at a great website I found called MorningPrint. I was able to go through and step-by-step pick the type of paper, design, and text to put on the card. Here's how the card turned out:

The blacked-out line is my phone number. I trust you..but not the rest of the internet :)

Backside

I love the design I ended up with. It matches my blog (yes I think of these things) and is a little bit aggie and a lot of me.

I only spent $28.99 + about $10 shipping and handling for 400 business cards. All of the places I called in my town were between $50 and $150 for this amount. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

So what are you waiting for? You are marketable as yourself, and you don't need to be tied to a company to do it. Having a personal business card is a great way to keep in contact with the new people you meet. I'm wishing I had these ages ago, and I know they'll start coming in handy right away.

Bringing Canada to the YCC

After a whirlwind week across the continent, I've made it home from Washington DC feeling more inspired than ever.

I told you how I scored the opportunity of a lifetime here, and gave you a quick update on the trip here, but as promised, I want to tell you exactly what an experience like this means to someone like me.


What is YCC? The individuals I met at the Young Cattlemen's Conference were between the ages of 25 and 50 from all over the United States. It's a pretty prestigious thing to attend YCC- participants were nominated by their state associations and had pay a hefty fee or seek sponsorship to be involved in the tour. The group took in three locations across the US (Denver, Chicago, and DC), taking in feedlots, processing plants, Chicago Board of Trade & OSI, Inc., and a day meeting with congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill. 

The 2011 YCC group. All rights reserved by Beltway Beef

Many of the YCC members were established ag and beef businesspeople, primary producers, and policy professionals. It's more than refreshing to meet people who share my passionate love for cattle and the international business of "farm-to-fork."

The Presentation. On Thursday, Fawn and I had the privilege of speaking at the NCBA Young Cattlemen's Conference about the Canadian beef industry and trade between Canada and the US. What I was expecting was a speaking engagement in which I would have to be over prepared for- knowing how to answer difficult questions and have challenging conversations with young producers. I did. What I wasn't expecting was to make connections around the globe, gain insight to international issues, and become completely inspired all over again by the industry I love. I did that too.

Our presentation gave an overview of Canadian agriculture, our trade relations and history with the United States, and programs of interest like our national traceability and Cattlemen's Young Leaders. Shoot me a comment if you'd like to see the presentation.

Million Dollar Questions. At the end of our presentation, we opened the floor to questions from the YCC members. Traceability was the greatest concern. Traceability is the system of monitoring where a beef animal has been between birth and slaughter, with the ultimate goal of making beef more appealing to export markets and consumers. It means no one can look at a steak and say, "You don't know where that's been."

The questions surprised me. They all wanted to know how Canada's national traceability system came to be, and what America needs to do to work towards one. It was clear that the main concern is opening reluctant markets who are still hesitant to import beef from countries with a history of BSE cases. The Canadian system is mandatory, and Americans want to know if they could ever implement one. This question isn't easy to answer, but the long and short of it is that the American beef industry will need to decide if the costs of a national traceability system (eartags, equipment, setting up a database) would outweigh the benefits of access to more foreign markets.

YCC in DC. We were also able to sit in on a YCC alumni panel of prefessionals working in the food industry, and a Five Nations panel composed of an Embassy representative from Canada, USA, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. One of the highlights for Fawn and I was sitting in a DC sports bar visiting with the Canadian, NZ, and Australian Embassy diplomats discussing their careers and foreign trade. We also took part in the NCBA Political Action Committee fundraiser, a live auction, as the "Vana Whites" for the auction items.

Fawn displaying an auction item

Bottom Line. Looking around the room at a sea of cowboy hats, I feel pretty at home. I also feel honored to associate with such industrious people who will, without a doubt, be on the front lines of the beef industry in just a few years. It makes me excited to be involved in this rapidly growing industry, and even more excited that my specific interest, communicating agriculture, is one of the top issues cattlemen are talking about.

A friend asked me why I would fly across the continent for a twenty minute speech. Well, I didn't. I flew across the continent to share my passion, and to hear from others about what they're doing to move the beef industry forward. I flew across the continent to make invaluable contacts and have insightful conversations about issues that are important to me. I always come away from conferences and events like this one with a strong reminder of why I do what I do, and an excitement to carry what I learned into my current and future involvement in agriculture.

I feel honored to have been asked to represent the Canadian cattle industry, and beyond appreciative of the opportunity. Thanks to the Canadian Embassy, Canadian Cattlemen's Association, and the national Cattlemen's beef Association for making this experience possible for me. I hope to keep in touch with all of the great people I met.

If you were at YCC or are an alumni, please leave a comment! I`d love to hear how the experience impacted you.

ALMA Future Fare

Coming to you from plane 3 of day 2!

Today was excellent. The ALMA Future Fare was far more extraordinary than I expected, with world-class speakers addressing the issues around livestock and meat at the Edmonton Expo Center. Speakers came from the industry as well as organizations to which ALMA contributes funding. Unfortunately, Fawn and I had to duck out early after our presentation to make our flight, so we missed quite a few presentations I would have loved to see.

Fawn and I presenting

The best part about conferences like this one is the networking opportunities. Representatives from every sector of the livestock industry gathered in one room can get a lot done during breaks. The business cards are flying and conversation revolves around livestock, markets, trade, and all the latest industry happenings. It’s a great atmosphere to get people talking about the ag and food issues concerning them.

I was interviewed after our presentation by a radio program, Call of the Land, by Caitlynn Reesor. I also spoke on video with Megan Oleksyn of RealAgriculture.com, which I’ll be able to post on the blog soon.

I love talking to crowds about my passion, and why a career and future in agriculture is so important to me. Talking about ag comes easily because it’s something I don’t have a moment’s hesitation about pursuing. I’m feeling pretty lucky to have found something I’m so passionate about.

Clearly the lack of sleep and out-of-whack ear pressure has me all reflective and such. Off to change the world again tomorrow at the NCBA Young Cattlemen’s Conference! Stay tuned for posts from DC.

Agvocating in Canada, and Beyond

5 days. 4 airplanes. 2 countries. 2 presentations. 


Here we go! It's finally here, DC week. But I have a few things to get to before I'm US-bound. 


I accidentally got to the airport a couple hours early today. I did this by accidentally driving fast to get here. Oh well! I'm actually quite enjoying the chance to take a breather and catch up on some things. I'm currently on #agchat on Twitter, a weekly conversation between people from all over North America about agricultural topics. This week's topic is right up my alley- ag blogs- so I'm trying to keep up.

On top of that I'm preparing myself for what's sure to be an outstanding week filled with opportunities, networking, and challenges.

Here's the low-down on my itinerary for Canadian part of my trip:

Tuesday
Board my flight from Calgary, Alberta, to Edmonton, Alberta. It's a whole 40 minutes in the air.
Arrive in Edmonton, check in to hotel, and prepare for tomorrow with my presenting partner, Fawn.

Wednesday
Wake up bright and early for the ALMA Future Fare! Fawn and I are set to speak at 11 am on behalf of the Cattlemen's Young Leaders program. I'm speaking as a CYL Graduate, and Fawn as the CYL Program Coordinator.

We're presenting to ALMA (Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency) officials and supporters to feature the great things our program has accomplished with the help of their funding. ALMA supports tons of cattle-related projects and programs, many of which are dedicated to advancing our industry and focus on youth. I'll be talking about my experience as a candidate with my mentor as well as my trip to Denver for the Five Nations Beef Alliance Young Rancher's Program.

So that's lag 1 of my trip, friends! Lag 2 begins by rushing off from the Future Fare to catch a 2:30pm flight to Washington DC. Hopefully that evening I'll have time to check in and update you on day 2. Wish me luck!