COCHRANE, Alta. – Mother cows watch cautiously as Wynne Chisholm moves around their young calves.
“This is the best time of year, eh?” she says as she checks a newborn black calf huddled in the straw in a south facing shelter.
Checking calves, fences and feed supplies is a typical day for the Alberta rancher, who recently received national recognition for her contributions to her community and agriculture.
Chisholm is one of five Canadian recipients of Farm Credit Canada’s Rosemary Davis award and will join 250 other women in Boston at the end of April for the Simmons School of Management’s leadership conference for women.
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Originally from a central Alberta ranch, Chisholm spent most of her adult life in the business world as a management consultant.
When her father, Jack Anderson, asked her to join him in the ranching business, she said yes.
It was 2003 and they were able to buy cows and land west of Calgary at a time when the industry was struggling through the BSE crisis.
“My dad and I like to go counter market,” she said. “What that means is we were able to buy cattle and land at much lower prices.”
Chisholm envisioned a ranch of about 300 cows, but instead the herd has grown to nearly 800.
The ranch consists of property at Jumping Pound west of Calgary and land northwest of Cochrane.
The place is a typical ranch on the outside, but Chisholm has drawn on her boardroom experience and farm background to build a modern, well planned operation.
She works with her father, husband Bob Chisholm, who is a retired consultant, and ranch manager Alvin Downie to find ways to improve the weak spots on the ranch using their collected experience, common sense and technological expertise.
She worried about how two strong personalities from different generations might work together, but for the most part it has been successful.
“Dad is not a typical old crusty rancher. He is so forward and progressive thinking,” she said.
Chisholm uses her management background to find the best ways to do the ranch work, process information and make decisions. An environmental farm plan and beef quality assurance program are in place.
“I always follow the legislation and what the standards should be because I want our standards to be above that,” she said.
DNA profiles help improve herd performance and beef quality.
“By knowing who is the dad, we are hoping to see some trends and who is throwing really good calves.”
The mostly black Angus calves are sold into a feeding group, where they are fed to slaughter weight.
“From the data we got back, we have had over 70 percent of our animals grade AAA or better,” she said.
They buy bulls and replacement females from favoured suppliers who share their philosophy and approach to herd health programs.
They have considered keeping their own replacements but would need more land for separate herds to prevent inbreeding.
“We think we can do well selling them at 600 pound weight and then we don’t have to take the feeding risk,” she said.
They grow their own feed and provide cows with a mixed ration of silage and grain in the early spring. This year the cows were able to swath graze until mid-March and will later will be turned out on grazing leases.
More day to day work has been turned over to Downie, which leaves Chisholm time for planning and volunteer work that includes hosting students from the University of Calgary veterinary school.
She is willing to learn new things but doesn’t think she is unique. There is a growing number of progressive ranchers who are quick to adopt new ideas, she added.
“There are a lot of women just like me. We just haven’t been in the public eye.”
She is interested in education and telling the public about agriculture.
“A lot of people don’t know about the technology and business that is involved in ranching,” she said.
She wants to share what they do with grazing management, animal husbandry and the complex technology that is required.
“People may drive down the highway and see a cow and think she just takes care of herself,” Chisholm said.
“They don’t realize there is a whole infrastructure to help her be successful and raise a calf.”
