REGINA – Limousin cattle are paving Erin Swaan’s future.
The 21-year-old science student from Quensel, B.C. fell in love with the breed as a young 4-Her 10 years ago. Now her cows are paying her way through school.
She is working toward a degree in applied science with a major in agribusiness through Olds College.
“My dream is to go back to the farm and take over from my dad and work with the cattle,” she said.
In her final year as a junior showperson, her two-year-old Limousin female with a black calf won the supreme championship at the Canadian Western Agribition 4-H and youth heifer show.
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Swaan is especially proud of this female which has won awards at the Armstrong Interior Provincial Exhibition, Vanderhoof Exhibition and Edmonton Farmfair.
She later showed the same pair in the regular Limousin show at Agribition and placed second in her class.
The heifer was purchased from Express Ranches at Yukon, Oklahoma, through a special program offered by the owner to support junior cattle producers.
If a youth buys an animal from Express and it goes on to win at shows in the United States or Canada, the owner is eligible for scholarships to pay post-secondary education expenses.
Swaan purchased her first heifer from this group and eventually won $5,000 US in scholarship money. So far, this female named EXLR Luvly 612M has earned her $3,500 in scholarships.
Since no equivalent program is available to young people in Canada, Swaan is grateful for the financial help.
This is her third visit to Agribition, where she shows cattle with help from her parents Rob and Cheryl Swaan, who own Pinnacle View Limousin. They own about 60 bred cows.
Their herd is half black and half red to serve their local private treaty bull market in interior B.C.
“We keep a good variety of colour. North of us, they prefer reds and south they prefer black,” Swaan said.
“You have to give these guys a choice.”
