Your reading list

Angus foundation sponsorships promote breed

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: July 23, 2009

,

When Canada was awarded the World Angus Forum six years ago, planning began almost immediately.

Working with an army of volunteers, the Canadians decided to put on a memorable show at Calgary.

The result was more than 1,000 head of Red and Black Angus cattle, nearly 800 registered delegates from 20 countries and hundreds more who trooped through the gates of Spruce Meadows July 13-16.

The forum offered technical sessions for delegates plus four shows, a sale and western hospitality.

Canada last hosted the forum in 1985.It was attended by the Queen Mother, who was also an Angus breeder who used some Canadian bloodlines, said forum chair John Lee, an Angus producer at Airdrie, Alta.

Read Also

 clubroot

Going beyond “Resistant” on crop seed labels

Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.

A unique aspect of this forum was a youth component that attracted 70 delegates from around the world.

“This was the first time they have had an official youth component,” said Lee. “In North America, youth plays such an important part of our industry, which is not the case in many other countries.”

An international display was another added attraction, where nine countries donated embryos that were implanted in Alberta donor cows and raised together at Remington Ranch at Del Bonita.

About 30 ended up in the program and studies were conducted to assess genetic diversity.

The Spruce Meadows venue, a well-known equestrian centre more accustomed to show jumping and horse festivals than cattle, proved attractive to participants.

“There have never been cattle here before and they embraced it right from the beginning,” Lee said.

The 300 acre site offers 160,000 sq. feet of display, cattle barns and show ring space.

Duckworth

About the author

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth has covered many livestock shows and conferences across the continent since 1988. Duckworth had graduated from Lethbridge College’s journalism program in 1974, later earning a degree in communications from the University of Calgary. Duckworth won many awards from the Canadian Farm Writers Association, American Agricultural Editors Association, the North American Agricultural Journalists and the International Agriculture Journalists Association.

explore

Stories from our other publications