Following up on its pilot program this year in Alberta, the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program will now accept applications for mentorship spots available nationwide in 2011.
“Beef enthusiasts” between ages 18 and 35 may apply online now to seek one of 16 eight-month CYL mentorships available beginning in April 2011. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 25, 2011.
The CYL program provides “industry-specific” training and mentorship opportunities to young producers, who gain the opportunity to explore a “potential career choice or involvement with a provincial/national producer organization.”
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For the week ending July 12, Western Canadian yearling markets traded steady to $5 higher compared to seven days earlier. Calves weighing 550-800 pounds were quoted $5 lower to as much as $10 higher.
At the same time, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) said in a release this week, the young participants gain the “expertise and business acumen” necessary to help sustain Canada’s cattle industry going forward.
Among the options proposed during the program’s pilot phase, for example, were mentoring with a veterinarian, working in beef science with agrifood firm Cargill, or shadowing a board member from the CCA or an affiliate organization to explore issues in policy development, research and/or international trade.
In a profile of the pilot program in the Oct. 25 issue of Alberta Farmer, participant Rosie Templeton, a first-year University of Alberta ag student, spoke of possibly pursuing a career in marketing or communications.
The program had paired Templeton with Dianne Finstad, ag and rodeo director for Red Deer radio station CKGY.
Cargill came on board in August during the program’s pilot phase as its “foundation partner,” pledging $70,000 over the next three years to help boost the program to the national level.
