ALTONA, Man. – If you spend enough time talking to Andrea Arbuckle, you might end up buying a Simmental bull you didn’t plan to own.
The 24-year-old is a passionate advocate of the Simmental and Angus cattle her family in Hartney, Man., has always raised and enjoys talking about the value of good cows and bulls.
“It’s the basis of the commercial system,” she said during an interview in the small, basement apartment she shares with her teacher husband in Altona, Man.
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“(Purebred cattle) give us the beef that we eat.”
Arbuckle, president of the Young Canadian Simmental Association, hopes to return to the family farm in the future.
She is unemployed, looking for a local job that could employ some of her lifelong talents as a cattle producer and her education, which includes an animal science degree from the University of Saskatchewan.
“I spend one week here and go back to the farm for a week,” said Arbuckle.
Fortunately for the Canadian Simmental Association, she has been using her spare time on the breed organization.
She won a CSA contest to be one of two youth delegates sent to the World Simmental Congress in Australia in September.
She also attended the CSA’s annual meeting and youth show in Victoriaville, Que., recently.
Visiting Australia gave her a better sense of the wide range of sizes, shapes and colours the breed takes in a different environment.
And being with other youth delegates from Scotland, the United States and Australia also gave her a better sense of how the Simmental breed is seen around the world.
She was surprised by how conservative most Australian producers are, with some disapproving of the red and black animals that have become the North American norm.
“It’s still controversial there,” said Arbuckle. “They don’t think those are Simmental.”
Even so, a few Australian producers have begun using North American genetics to improve their herds.
German producers are also resistant to the Simmentals that North Americans have pioneered.
Arbuckle wants to keep Canada’s Simmental industry advancing and prefers to look for a job in rural Manitoba.
“It’s in my blood,” said Arbuckle. “I love being out on a wide open farm out there in the country.”
