VERMILION, Alta. – After almost 70 years, a herd of purebred Black Angus cattle has returned to its original home at Lakeland College.
The Alberta college bought 23 cows and their calves from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s Fairview campus. The cows are descendants of Lakeland’s herd in the 1940s.
“We’re quite excited to have them here,” said Darrell Hickman, farm manager for Lakeland College.
It was during a tour of the Fairview campus farm by Hickman’s father-in-law, John Milne, a former Fairview College instructor, that Hickman learned the history of the herd and its connection to Lakeland College.
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In 1937 the Alberta Aberdeen Angus Association approached the provincial government asking that a purebred Angus herd be formed at either Olds or Vermilion School of Agriculture. It was agreed the breeders would donate the females and the government would buy a herd sire and maintain the herd at one of the schools.
In 1938, 12 bred animals were donated to Vermilion and the government later bought a bull from Iowa. In the late 1940s the animals were transferred to Olds. Nine years later the government moved the 35 animals to Fairview where a new school of agriculture was being built.
From the early 1970s until the mid-1990s, the Fairview College herd was successful at shows throughout Western Canada and several bulls sold at high prices.
Hickman said Lakeland staff had talked about developing a purebred herd for several years, but didn’t know how to dodge the political land mines involved in establishing a purebred herd from scratch.
In 2003, Fairview College ended its agriculture program after several years of declining enrolment. It was no longer using the purebred herd for teaching. The college was later taken over by NAIT.
During a recent beef committee meeting at Lakeland College, the idea of establishing a purebred herd was raised again. Knowing the history of the Fairview College herd, Hickman approached NAIT officials about the idea of returning the herd to its original campus.
“They were interested to see the cows coming back home and used for teaching purposes what they were originally used for,” said Hickman.
The cattle will form part of the livestock program in the student-managed farm at the college. With some guidance the students will use the purebred herd to learn how to choose new herd sires, tattoo, artificially inseminate, weigh and register purebred animals. They will also learn to select and market the heifers and bulls, said Hickman.
“With the history behind this herd, it was a perfect opportunity for the college and a perfect opportunity for the students.”
