“Generally what we’ve heard is that 2022 went very, very well,” said Tim Carson, CEO of the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies.

“There was some excellent programming provided by agricultural societies in their local communities that were very well attended. (People) were willing to get out there and get started again.”

However, the pandemic resulted in a loss of volunteers. Many got used to staying home or found other things to do, said Carson.

“They often have a core group that organizes the events, but the number of volunteers who are available to assist in actually executing the event is definitely a challenge,” he said.

Still, many ag societies are thriving, he said, and that’s the case for the Rimbey Agricultural Society.

Attendance, volunteer numbers and sponsorship were all strong last year, said office manager Jill Moore.

A key for her ag society has been ensuring there are strong bonds to the community and avoiding the temptation to become overly reliant on the same few people, said Moore, who is also a former president of the society.

“We’ve made sure to expand our volunteer base outside of our board. It’s really easy to just lean on your board all the time and then you’re so burned out and everybody sees you like that so then they don’t want to help.”

A big part of building that volunteer base is expressing gratitude for everything people do, be it a little or a lot.

“If people come once every two months and help out, then we’re super thankful. There’s no pressure. That’s a key part to it,” said Moore.

Keeping things fun is also a must.

“When things have gotten stressful or high pressure, we just have to remember to keep having fun because that’s what brings the volunteers on.”

Over the years, there have been plenty of bumps in the road.

One was in 2014, when a recession hit just as the society built the 60,000-square-foot Co-operators Agrim Centre, its multipurpose event hub.

“It was a bit of a struggle for a couple of years to be able to make ends meet,” said Moore.

COVID delivered another blow.

After two years of limited activity, it wasn’t clear whether the society could count on the same level of community support as before the pandemic. Nevertheless, it opted to bid on hosting the Alberta Junior High School Rodeo Finals and it was a little nerve-wracking when its bid was successful.

“It was a huge learning curve for us to take on an event of that size,” said Moore. “It was a $100,000 budget, a lot of moving parts with a banquet and prizes, and our first kick at the cat obtaining a substantial amount of sponsorship money for an event.”

But the gamble paid off in spades.

“We pretty much nailed it. We kind of wowed people. We knew that if we didn’t work really, really hard it would be a disorganized event and it would reflect on us.”

It didn’t end there. After two years of being largely housebound, people of the central Alberta town of 2,600 and surrounding area were hungry for the kind of entertainment an ag society offers.

“We had one rodeo in a storm in February and there was a long line out the door. We could hardly keep up,” said Moore. “It was really profitable but it was almost comically exhausting. It was very, very exciting to actually see revenue come in after such a time of stagnant operations where we couldn’t hold events.

“And just the morale increase — the community felt like a community again. It was amazing.”

These days, the doors of the Agrim Centre rarely stay closed for long.

There’s almost always something going on, be it monthly rodeos, weekly roughstock and team roping practice, barrel racing competitions or steer and bull riding schools.

And those are just the events the society itself puts on. The centre is frequently rented by private groups holding their own activities.

“We have an event called Snow Days each winter in January where we have a cutter rally where people ride behind horses on little sleighs,” said Moore. “It has demonstrations and vendor booths and a chili cookoff — kind of an old school kind of event.”

The society will again host Alberta Junior High School Rodeo Finals along with the Alberta Dairy Congress and, in the spirit of challenging themselves, it’s also hosting a two-week motocross event in early February.

“It’s a huge learning curve for us but we actually enjoy that kind of challenge.”

There are nearly 300 ag societies in the province and there were fears early in the pandemic that it would cripple many of them.

But ag societies have the ability to bring communities together, and that’s powerful, said Moore.

“The experiences I’ve had with this organization and the people I’ve met — it’s been quite life-changing. Even though we have quite a lot of staff, the volunteerism is still alive and well in larger capacities than it was before.”

That’s remarkable when a lot of volunteer-driven organizations are struggling, she said.

“It’s being lost because the world is getting so commercialized. People want to go pay for something and leave,” she said.

“To teach your kids and your family about stepping in and helping rather than just expecting services is just something that ties people together. I know that sounds clichéd but it’s really true.”

The post Province’s ag societies bounce back in a big way appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Every year Farmfair organizers add new events or change the focus of existing ones to better meet the needs of the show’s audience. Here are a few highlights:

Heritage Ranch Rodeo returns to evenings

When: Nov. 8-10 at 7 p.m., Ranch Horse Competition Nov. 8 at 8:30 a.m.

Where: Hall D, Edmonton EXPO Centre.

Previously held in the afternoons to avoid scheduling conflicts with the Canadian Finals Rodeo, the Heritage Ranch Rodeo — for the first time in many years — is now scheduled for evening performances. With a focus on ranchers demonstrating skills such as wild cow milking, team sorting, and stray gathering, the Heritage Ranch Rodeo is a twist on the usual rodeo format, said Jessie Radies, director of agriculture for Northlands.

“It’s a great rodeo. You’ve got actual working ranch teams demonstrating some of their ranch skills. It’s a very different event from a traditional rodeo but it’s very exciting. If you’ve never seen it this is a great opportunity to do so.”

Youth programming set for Sunday

Prior to this year, youth programming was spread throughout Farmfair week. However, all next-generation events this year are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 11.

“We’ve concentrated all of our youth and next-generation programming on Sunday,” said Radies.

“In the past we tried to slot in the youth programming wherever there was space but we recognize the future of agriculture is really depending on the development of future leaders. We really wanted to dedicate some time and focus on our next-gen programming.”

Part of that has been increasing the scholarship payouts of the Junior Futurity Show to $10,000. “That is a significant increase over previous years’ payouts,” she said.

A few of the youth-oriented events that day include 4-H Day (to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in AP Ballrooms 105-106), the Junior Futurity from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Canadian Cattlemen Hall B Rings One and Two, and Rodeo’s Future Champions from noon to 3 p.m. in Hall D.

For more information on shows and tickets, visit the Farmfair International website. (Heritage Ranch Rodeo tickets are sold separately, but include admission to Farmfair as well as parking.)

*An earlier version of this article included Beef Tech on Nov. 7 -8 as part of Farmfair. 

The post Things to know and things to do at Farmfair 2018 appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Not only is champions a theme of the 2018 show — the Champion of the World Week will be a major highlight of this year’s event — but Farmfair itself has had to overcome some adversity to get to its 45th edition.

While the livestock show’s long-running relationship with the Canadian Finals Rodeo is no more, following the closure of Northlands Coliseum, the good news is that the event has a home at the EXPO Centre for the next several years.

“We have a five-year agreement with the City of Edmonton with a five-year option to renew provided all parties are in agreement,” said Jessie Radies, director of agriculture for Northlands, the presenters of Farmfair, which runs from Nov. 7-11.

“We are guaranteed five years’ access to space for both Farmfair and K-Days. We have the facilities to do a livestock show. We have all the amenities that are required. It’s good for us and it’s good for the people who are exhibitors at Farmfair.”

Spotlight on Alberta

In addition to the Champion of the World Week, Northlands will also host the Commonwealth Agriculture Conference from Nov. 5-8. That event attracts delegates from ag societies around the world, opening Farmfair to possibly its biggest and most internationally diverse audience ever.

The annual Champion of the World online competition consists of champion bulls and females from 72 countries across 16 different breeds. Champion of the World Week — a collaboration between Northlands and TheCattleMarket.net — will highlight the 2017 winners including the best seven bulls and best seven females among British and European breeds.

The champions being highlighted include the best in Angus, Charolais, Limousin, Hereford, Galloway, Shorthorn, and Simmental breeds. Canada is strongly represented with six Canadian winners, three of them from Alberta, said PJ Budler, Farmfair ambassador and owner of TheCattleMarket.net.

Canada’s champions include the male and female Angus winners (Ontario and Alberta, respectively), Charolais bull and female (Manitoba and Alberta), Hereford female (Alberta), and Shorthorn bull (Ontario). Other champions hail from Australia, Scotland, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa.

“It’s startling how many of the winners were Canadian,” said Budler.

The event offers a platform for Alberta’s beef industry, said Radies.

“Champion of the World Week gives us the opportunity to get these buyers from different countries from around the world into Alberta and face to face with Alberta genetics, Alberta livestock, and Alberta producers,” she said.

Northlands is taking the delegates on ranch tours and herd visits to increase the number of these interactions.

The trip to Farmfair is actually part of the prize package for each of the champions, with Northlands and TheCattleMarket.net covering travel and lodging expenses. It’s a good investment for Farmfair, said Budler.

“It just adds to the prestige of the event,” he said. “(The champion breeders) will be exposing the best cattle they’ve got to the best possible market. Even if that doesn’t result in sales, it can relate to building goodwill and relationships with breeders across the country that maybe wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

“We’ve done similar things in Houston and the synergy that develops by putting breed leaders and winners together is incredible.”

Champions of the World Week events will occur over the course of Farmfair. For specific dates/times, visit the Farmfair International website.

A conference fit for a princess

While not an official Farmfair event, the timing of the 28th Commonwealth Agriculture Conference is another opportunity to expose Alberta’s beef industry to the world, said Radies.

The conference – held every two years in a Commonwealth country – will attract about 200 delegates including Her Royal Highness Princess Anne. The event is led by the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth, which represents 50 national and regional agricultural show societies, agricultural associations, and research institutions from 20 countries.

“The delegates at the conference are connected into agricultural societies which support the development of agriculture in their own countries as well as host agricultural events,” said Radies.

“It’s very appropriate that it’s held in conjunction with Farmfair because it allows those delegates to see a large North American livestock show. We have a couple of overlap days (with the conference) so they will have an opportunity to see the show and see the livestock. We are also doing some tours with these delegates so they actually have an opportunity to get out and see our industry.”

Inbound Buyer Program

One of the most popular Farmfair programs for cattle buyers and sellers has long been the Inbound Buyer Program. Farmfair International teams up with Canadian breeders and genetics companies to help support international buyers’ costs of travel to and attendance at the show. It also offers specialized itineraries including a farm and industry tour day, invitations to beef-related events, and pre- and post-show support.

Ambassadors representing Farmfair work year round to attract buyers to the show. As of late September, 70 delegates had signed up, said Radies.

“(Registration is) a bit of a moving target. We have a few countries that always register at the very last minute.”

Spain and Portugal are among the countries being represented in the program for the first time this year.

“It’s always exciting to welcome buyers from new countries. Over the last decade we’ve had inbound buyers from most of the cattle-producing regions that have the European cattle breeds.”

Other countries sending delegates this year include Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, and Costa Rica.

CFR will be missed

For better or for worse, the absence of the Canadian Finals Rodeo – which runs at Red Deer’s Westerner Park Oct. 30 to Nov. 4 – will be felt.

“It will definitely impact Farmfair,” said Radies. “The CFR and Farmfair were very complementary to each other with a lot of crossover in attendance. People who were going to CFR would also get tickets to Farmfair and walk through the event on the way to the rodeo or maybe pass through after the rodeo if it was a matinee performance.

“We’re worried we’re going to miss some of that walk-through traffic but we are working hard with our marketing team to try and recover some of that attendance. I guess we’ll know how much it impacts Farmfair after we’ve wrapped up the event.”

However, Farmfair International also has its share of loyal attendees.

“There are a lot of farmers and ranchers and

people connected to that industry who come to Farmfair because it’s Farmfair, not because the CFR is there.”

The post The rodeo is gone but Farmfair riding on appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Those commitments haven’t changed, but now — nearly 30 years later — he can share those passions from a different position after becoming president and chairman of the organization in March.

At the time, the Cochrane-area rancher was also president of the Canadian Angus Association, the country’s largest cattle breed organization, and had a busy few months leading both groups.

“It’s just a fact that I don’t know how to say no,” Sibbald said with a chuckle. “It was never the design, more of an evolution.”

He’s been a Stampede board member since 2009, and served on several committees (beef cattle, livestock evaluation, strategic agriculture planning, and rodeo). The board has evolved over the years from a collection of committee representatives to a strategic thinking group from diverse backgrounds. Sibbald said he gets to rub shoulders with lawyers, entrepreneurs, energy executives, engineers, and real estate developers — although many have farming backgrounds and connections.

While the Stampede stays closely tied to its proud western heritage, it needs to be relevant to an increasingly ethnically diverse and very urban community, he said. That’s why education has become a key priority and prompted a focus on creating a year-round gathering place for urban consumers and food producers.

“Traditional ag shows have changed,” said Sibbald. “Twenty years ago, cattle shows were what everybody did in the summer. Ag has changed. I’m excited about change, I have always been viewed as a change agent.”

Serving on the Stampede board has given him a different perspective that he tries to share with his fellow purebred breeders, he said.

“Ranchers tend not to worry about their product after it leaves their farm gate,” he said. “I’m on the other side — I’ve seen a million-plus people pack a 200-acre facility over 10 days and what their desires are from a food perspective. They’re shaping our industry and that’s good, but we also need to be part of that, in having conversations through the whole value chain.”

Even producers of Angus beef (“a brand second to none within the industry”) can’t rest on their laurels, he said.

“That’s what I’ve tried to push breeders to do: To think beyond their ranch, their farm, their program, to the collective and collaborative effort we can all have, and how that has impact.”

Sibbald is a fifth-generation rancher — his family has been in the Sibbald Flats area since 1875 — and raises about 500 head of purebred and commercial cattle with his family at Triple S Red Angus ranch. Telling the story of producers is key to the future of the beef business, he said, adding he’s proud the Stampede has been able to initiate conversations that increase awareness of the real story.

“In our education platform, we touch over 100,000 kids in a year from Grades 3 to 9, whether that’s with our Journey 2050 program, the Stampede School, our youth campus which just opened, or the OH Ranch Education program. The basis of that story is always ag and food. It’s not only necessary, but exciting to have those conversations.”

Sibbald is also hoping more people from agriculture, especially younger people, get engaged in leadership.

“We’ve got the best set of (young) leaders we’ve had for several generations,” he said. “They’re more educated, more connected to consumers, and on the right path. We need to encourage them to have a voice today, not 20 years from now.”

While experience is good, the old ‘wait your turn’ attitude needs to change, he added.

“We need to provide the opportunity for young leaders to have a seat at the table now,” he said, likening it to a breeding program and noting “pretty soon the cow herd is old” if you’re not bringing in new blood.

His family encouraged him to start volunteering early in life, and Sibbald said he’s both grateful to them and to wife Mary Beth and oldest son Dylan who manage the ranch day to day.

“I couldn’t do any of this without family support,” he said, adding, “I might have to go find a job… because I probably won’t have one… when I get back to the ranch.”

In an interview shortly before the opening of the Stampede, Sibbald also noted he was going to be the first president “in a long, long time” to ride in the rodeo opening.

“So I’d better not fall off!” he joked.

He didn’t, but offering to take part in the opening ride is a typical Dave Sibbald act.

“I love to contribute,” he said. “I want to be judged by the future I create. I really live by that.”

The post ‘I love to contribute’ is the motto of Cochrane rancher appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

But two things are clear. The definition of fun is as vast as the Alberta landscape, and the tradition of getting together with community for pure enjoyment is older than the province itself.

Here are just a few of your options: quad wars, horse races, running with bulls, tractor pulls, farmers’ markets, and combine demolition derbies.

Who makes all this possible? It’s the 284 primary agricultural societies – made up of 66,000 creative and committed volunteers who are proud of their place, and dedicate an estimated 640,000 hours annually to enrich their way of life and welcome visitors.

While the festivities were created to encourage locals to gather and celebrate, folks from bigger centres are now being drawn to these homestyle activities.

And organizers are beginning to recognize that trend, said Tim Carson, CEO of the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies.

“In many cases, they consider them more local events than they do tourism events,” he said. “But many people are actually looking to have a more ‘local’ experience when they are out touring. So attending some of the events going on in the smaller communities is a great way to immerse yourself in rural Alberta.

“It’s a way to not only get your community and what it’s all about out there, but it’s also a great revenue source for these organizations. They put in a lot of time and effort putting on these events, and accessing the larger community around them is always a bonus.”

In fact, ag societies in Alberta generated more than $44 million in revenue, according to a study done in 2009, and that figure did not include events put on by ag groups in the major centres of the province.

“It’s a much bigger impact than most people recognize,” said Carson. “It’s important to not only rural Alberta, but Alberta in general.”

While smaller ag societies aren’t generally tracking where all their visitors are coming from, Carson points out initiatives such as the Growing Rural Tourism conference and Open Farm Days have shown that people are willing to travel to the countryside.

“Ag societies are continuing to look for ways to entertain and stay relevant for their own communities. Because they are being as innovative as they can be with the resources they have, they’re attracting a new group of people to come and take in the events that are going on.”

There are plenty of reasons to make a rural trek this summer, that can satisfy nearly every interest. If it’s nostalgia and old-time machinery that tickles your fancy, there’s lots to choose from, like the Didsbury Antique Tractor Olympics (July 8), the High River Tractor Pull and Model T Ford Race (June 17) or the Model T Races in Bruderheim (July 29). La Crete has an antique parade and equipment demonstration (Sept. 2), Round Hill has a harvest threshing demonstration (Sept. 3), and Airdrie has the Art of the Harvest (Sept. 23).

If playing in the mud (or watching others do so while you stay clean and dry!) is more your thing, you can do that at Bruderheim too. As well, Bonanza has a Mud Bog with its July 14 fair, or head to the Glendon Derby and Mudbogs (Aug. 12), the Quad Wars in Darwell (Aug. 19), or the La Crete Mud Bog (Aug. 19).

Rodeos and horse events abound, along with cattle shows, petting zoos, parades and bench shows.

There are some interesting blends of new and old. For instance, the community of Millarville, just outside Calgary, is well known for its summer farmers’ market, but it’s added to that a half-marathon run on June 17. Plus the Running of the Races at the historic track goes for the 112th time in Millarville on July 1.

With this year being the 150th birthday of Canada, many of the July 1 celebrations are ramping up at places like Rosemary, La Crete, Ponoka, and Irricana. The community of Tomahawk is one that mushrooms well beyond its size, as folks from all over head there to celebrate Canada Day.

More than 20 of the organizations are over a century old, and this year the Benalto Fair and Rodeo marks its 100th Fair and Pro Rodeo on July 6.

Food — oh, the food — you can find in rural Alberta, with steak, beans, corn, and barbecues galore. In the fall, there’s the not-to-be-missed annual Garlic Festival in Andrew (Oct. 14). Pumpkins are featured in Carstairs (Sept. 30) and Eaglesham (Oct. 29).

The Association of Ag Societies has some handy planning tools for you to map out your calendar. You can download a mobile app through the website (www.albertaagsocieties.ca). There’s also an extensive calendar there, which is also shared with both Travel Alberta and Alberta Agriculture’s website calendar.

So whether you’re looking for something to do with visiting relatives, want to glean some new ideas for your own community, or just have a desire to explore a different region, it’s time to hit the road and have some fun in rural Alberta this year.

The post Hit the road — there’s summer fun in every direction in Alberta appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“As a scientist, I can say that there is no data on rodeo and how animals are being treated. That’s where some of the research we’ve been doing is really focused,” Ed Pajor, a University of Calgary professor of animal welfare, said at the recent Livestock Care Conference.

Pajor is one of four members of the Calgary Stampede’s animal care advisory panel and, contrary to what many of its critics claim, the event’s organizers don’t brush animal welfare under the carpet.

“The Stampede has done a great deal,” he said. “They’ve made animal care and animal welfare part of their strategic plan. They listen closely to the expertise around the table, and they’ve come up with numerous strategies and approaches.

“They receive a lot less credit than they deserve. The changes they’ve made within their organization are far reaching.”

• Read more: Don’t write off animal welfare advocates as vegans and ‘crazies’

The Stampede has developed its own code of practice for animal welfare, based on legal recommendations, industry standards, and individual rules for each rodeo event and animal exhibition. It has also hired Jennifer Woods, an animal-handling specialist, to conduct audits.

“These assessments and audits don’t sit on the shelf. Changes are made as budgets allow,” said Pajor.

For example, after the flood of 2013, the Stampede made a major investment to replace all of the hardware in the bucking bull chutes.

On the other hand, while many rodeo supporters say rodeo animals love performing, it is difficult to measure this scientifically, said Pajor. In his team’s research, behavioural indicators of fear in animals — including tail flicking, defecation, kicking, and ‘eye whites’ (more white area is a sign of stress) — are monitored.

“One of the things that I heard a lot about the Stampede is that animals are handled very badly, that they’re handled very roughly,” he said. “That type of story was out there as part of the discussion around the treatment of animals at the rodeo.”

To see whether this was true, Pajor and his students studied bucking events at the rodeo to see if they could pick up indicators of fear and stress during loading and prior to performance, when animals are in the bucking chutes. Using behavioural analysis and infrared thermography (which measures heat in the eyeball to indicate stress levels) researchers collected data at the Stampede for several years.

In the holding pens, animals appear calm and relaxed, even though there is lots of activity and other animals are being moved about.

“Based on what I heard, I thought I was going to see animals getting very nervous prior to performance, and animals getting a lot more restless — that’s not what we saw,” said Pajor. “We saw animals that were pretty calm in the back.”

Researchers scored the handling of the animals as well as the behaviour of bulls when they were being loaded, and watched for negative behaviour, such as kicking or charging.

“The people in the back who are moving the animals are well trained in terms of animal movement,” said Pajor.

The handlers mainly used a rattle paddle to move the animals, but there were a few instances of handlers hitting the animals or striking them with the gate. In general, very few animals experienced aversive handling at all, and the frequency of animals hit by a person or gate were low.

“Very few animals had trouble loading. For the most part, the story here is that the animals move very easily.”

While animals appear to be calm, some of their calmness could actually be attributed to a phenomenon called “learned helplessness,” which means the animals stop resisting or displaying fear even when distressed.

“It’s not that the story is completely in the clear, but what we are definitely not seeing is a whole bunch of crazy animals behaving in some sort of way in the chutes prior to the actual event, before the doors open,” said Pajor, adding researchers need to design additional experiments to get the whole story.

Less experienced animals showed more fear responses than experienced ones, but bulls react to human behaviour that is not specific to the rodeo. Most of the animals don’t have a lot of experience with people, and may be reacting more to being close to people, microphones and cameras, than to the rodeo itself.

Pajor praised the Stampede for its forward thinking and for allowing researchers to have access to the entire site. Other North American rodeos are now looking to — and starting to adopt — Calgary Stampede’s guidelines, he said.

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