As of press time and before I left for Mexico, Bill Jackson of Tullamore Angus had identified the young man in the photo of the Nov. issue as Dave Hasson from Ontario. Our condolences go out to Dave and Angie Hasson on the loss of her sister in November.

The Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) development program is pleased to report it is already receiving applications for the 16 available mentorship opportunities, professional and industry, on offer across Canada in 2011. Eligible interested parties have until Jan. 25 to apply for the mentorship opportunities, which begin in April and run to December. Beef enthusiasts between the ages of 18 and 35 interested in more information or applying for one of the CYL mentorships can visit www.cattlemensyoungleaders.com.

Douglas (Buddy), Frances and Lance Leachman, Big Gully Farm, of Maidstone, Sask., won the coveted Supreme Champion Bull at Canadian Western Agribition (see photo below), one of the most prestigious awards in Canada, with a Hereford bull: BIG-GULLY 611 BOUNTY 517U. 517U was also the Grand Champion Bull at Lloydminster Stockade Round-up earlier this year. Congratulations to the Leachman family on this great achievement in the purebred cattle industry.

For anyone trying to get hold of the Charolais commercial field rep for Alberta and B.C., just give Andy Jones a call at 403-391-6764.

The National Limousin Show was broadcast by DLMS and they reported having up to 200 viewers for the event. Congratulations to the Show Cattle of the Year Awards Winners. These cattle accumulated points throughout the year at shows with 30 Limousin head or more. The winning animals were: Show Female of the Year, Ivy’s Sweet Touch 4S owned by Ivy Livestock and Ron McKenzie; Show Bull of the Year, SL Bullet Proof owned by Cottage Lake Livestock; Show Sire of the Year; Anchor B The Shmooze owned by Payne Livestock, RayD Livestock and Anchor B Limousin; Show Dam of the Year, Ivy’s Princess owned by Ivy Livestock and Payne Livestock. Other show results for the Limousin breed: Back in July 2010, a Limousin bull BDM Little Zipper was declared Supreme Champion at Harding Fair in Manitoba. Cottage Lake Livestock won the Supreme Championship in Lloydminster. A Limousin female Greenwood PLD Ultra Fancy 2U owned by Cottage Lake Livestock, the Papenhuyzen family of Stony Plain, Alta., was named best female of all breeds at the 2010 Lloydminster Stockade Roundup.

The Eastern National Hereford Show at the Royal, the Western National Hereford Show at Farmfair and the National Hereford Show at Agribition were all very successful shows as the Hereford breed celebrated 150 Years in Canada. Each show held special events celebrating this occasion and attendance was incredible at each one. Congratulations to the organizing committee and the provincial managers for all their hard work.

At the Ontario Outdoor Farm Show, a Limousin-cross steer entered by Tom Hern topped the entries that also included five other breeds.

The Hereford Genes Event was once again held in conjunction with the Western National Hereford Show at Farmfair with 34 bulls displayed to 400 plus commercial producers. The bulls were later paraded into the stadium during the intermission at the finals of the ranch rodeo in front of 4,000 spectators. Ed Lange was selected to pick his bull of choice to take back to his ranch. He selected TANGA SIVLERSTONE 17W from Tanga Herefords at Millet, Alta., who received a cheque for $8,000. The Ranchers Choice Grand Champion Bull honors went to Richardson Ranch with TLELL 199S XPLOSIVE 18X and the Reserve Grand Champion pennant went to JoNomn Herefords with JNHR UNIQUE TIMER 715W.

The Ontario Junior Limousin Association is hosting the 2011 National Junior Conference in Orangeville. Fund raising kicked off at the Royal Winter Fair with the raffle of a tack box full of equipment and products. Then at the Canadian Western Agribition, they conducted the traditional ticket auction for the right to place a logo on the clothing. The OJLA has raised almost $9,000 so far.

On Nov. 23 the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) praised the announcement that Canadian beef will now have improved access to the European Union (EU) in the form of a 20,000-tonne duty-free quota. This issue has been one of CCA’s top market access priorities and the association congratulated ministers Gerry Ritz and Peter Van Loan for keeping this issue at the forefront in order to achieve this result. “The European Union is a high income market willing to pay the higher cost of beef produced from cattle without growth promotants, but for years our access has been limited to a small quota at a 20 per cent duty. Finally we can start to scratch the potential of this market,” said CCA president Travis Toews.

It was a very busy Agribition for Simmental breeders, with numerous committee meetings and a board meeting during Agribition week. A Garth Sweet Foundation meeting was held as well. Overall optimism in the barn was excellent with the numbers of cattle shown increased and the sale average being higher than last year. Simmental-influenced animals had a great run at the fall commercial shows and topped the bred heifer sales in many instances.

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Suggestions are always welcome. My phone number is 403-325-1695 Email:

Deb. [email protected]