Sustainability in the Beef Industry
Sustainability in the Beef Industry - June 30, 2023
What’s included:
Bus transportation to and from Olds College, as well as lunch. IFAJ delegates have a free evening for dinner.
Since grass and beef genetics are the foundation of the beef industry, the tour stops today are devoted to an in-depth look at these key elements of Canadian beef production system.
UNION FORAGE - First stop of the day is a tour of the Union Forage offices and warehouse in southeast Calgary. The company is the great idea of an Australian transplant to Canada, who nine years ago looked to apply his knowledge and experience with grazing systems "Down Under" to the Western Canadian environment. As a company described as a forage seed innovator — the shareholders of Union Forage own or operate six ranches and five feedlots across western Canada. From short grass prairie to parkland regions the principals of the company run 5,000 cows and have 40,000 head of feedlot capacity on 50,000 acres. As a major distributor of grass and legume forage varieties, the company practices what it preaches — by growing the forages they market to produce feed for their own cattle, ensuring the products will also preform for their customers.
CL RANCHES - An early afternoon visit to CL Ranches just west of Calgary, will showcase a beef cattle breeding program tailored to the environment. Producing cattle that succeed through all the levels of the industry to the consumers’ plates, with true economic efficiency and the overall satisfaction received by the end user.
Established in 1887 on the banks of the Jumping Pound Creek in Alberta's beautiful Rocky Mountain foothills, CL Ranches has been blessed with a pristine ranching environment. The Copithorne family has been in the cattle business for over 100 years, and are committed to producing an economically efficient, environmentally compatible animal, which delivers the highest quality uniform beef product.
Along with producing cattle, CL Ranches is a diversified operation with a number of commercial interests including being part of the movie industry. Located on part of the ranch is the CL Western Town — a large versatile movie studio uniquely located in the pristine foothills leading into the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. The "town" is a period studio featuring 1850's to 1930's buildings, most of them with finished interiors, along side two main intersecting streets, and an earlier period street on the west side facing mountains view.
SODERGLEN RANCHES - The final afternoon stop is at Soderglen Ranches — one of the largest seedstock cattle operations in Canada. The company’s land base has grown to include ranches northwest of Calgary, as well as two southern Alberta locations. Soderglen raises grain and a variety of beef breeds – including two they have developed – concentrating on genetics of the beef business and outstanding customer service. The ranch managers and employees maintain a herd of 1,500 mother cows from five different seedstock lines.
Our tour will visit the north operation that along with Black and Red Angus, Black and Red Simmental and Charolais cattle also produces forages and grain for livestock feed as well as wheat and canola cash crops. Well also learn about Soderglen's commitment to maintain sustainable and environmentally responsible farming operations. Their efforts over the years that includes a 30-year relationship with Ducks Unlimited earned them recognition in 2021 as winner Alberta Beef Producers' Environmental Stewardship Award. The ranch has developed a rotational grazing system, has developed an extensive watering system to service each pasture, and makes a concerted effort to protect streams, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. Their philosophy — "Environmental stewardship is simply a way of protecting the environment and our investment at the same time. If we do it right, we may be here for a very long time, and if we don’t…”
Schedule:
The tour bus will depart Olds College at 10 a.m. and return to Olds College at about 6:30 p.m.
