Return of Agribition offers much needed support for cattle producers

REGINA -

Thursday saw the continuation of the rodeo and other entertainment events across Agribition, but the center of business attention was on beef sales as cattle auctions rolled into their second day.

“Just the opportunity to talk to producers and talk to the public, it has a big feeling of getting back to normal,” said Ryder Lee, CEO of the Saskatchewan Cattleman’s Association.

The need for Agribition was a common theme with producers as they rely on the event to make connections and get deals done.

“You need to be here, you need to be seeing people,” said Lee. “There’s an amount we can do online but there’s some kicking tires and some trust and conversations that go together. And so having things like this are important to the industry moving forward.”

Producers like Jason Goodfellow, who runs Notta Ranch, a 250 cow operation based out of Neilburg, said that many producers like him felt the effects of the postponed show last year, on top of other issues such feed shortages and drought like conditions.

“It definitely affected us as far as sales and being able to reach out to people,” he explained. “It seems like every time you see a hurdle in the cattle business there’s always another one that follows up. Whether it’s a landslide in B.C or whether it’s just an extra cold winter when the feed supplies are low already.”

Regardless of these issues, the cattle industry is innovating in hopes to further improve its efficiency and outreach.

On Thursday, the Canadian Beef Improvement Network announced it was partnering with Xerris Inc, a Calgary technology firm, to centralize and expand accessibility to genetic data across the entire Canadian beef production system.

“This is strengthening that foundation of our industry,” said Sandy Russel, CEO of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council. “Verifying the genetic information, we have and then also giving ranchers and breeders the capacity to validate and make those decisions into the future to produce even better, more efficient, more environmentally sustainable and ultimately profitable beef.”

Goodfellow, whose speckle park cattle are sought after for their genetics by international partners, agreed that easier to access information regarding cattle genetics is a step in the right direction.

“I think that if there’s a company out there that has a system that could take data,” he said, “such as what we have, and have a good place to put it where its comparable I would definitely support that and I don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t.”

Now that Agribition is back in full force, Goodfellow said he is confident that his operation and his fellow producers will find a way to prosper, regardless of whatever issues lie ahead.

“Most of the people that’re here at Agribition, they’re obviously resilient enough to stay into the business and keep pushing hard, through all the hard times,” he said. “Whether it be drought or landslides or all of the above that they seem to throw at all of the agriculture folks.”

Lee agreed with the sentiment.

“There’s lots of challenges out there,” he said. “But there’s a lot of creativity and there’s still optimism to go with it.”