Why This Canadian Rancher is Thankful to A&W

March 8, 2016March 9, 2016 / viewfromtheranchporch / 24 Comments

That’s right. You read the title correctly. I am a Canadian Rancher, and I am thankful to A&W!

As most people from rural Western Canada know, in September of 2013 A&W, a fast food burger chain, came out with their “Better Beef” campaign. This campaign made claims that their “Better Beef” used no hormones or steroids. They claimed it was raised “sustainably” and “ethically”. Their campaign also meant a shift from the 100% Canadian Beef they were selling to importing the majority of it from South America and Australia. This sparked immediate outrage from the Canadian Beef Industry. These commercials were aimed to spark fear in consumer hearts about the safety of conventionally raised Canadian beef. This was a conscious decision to mislead consumers in order to sell more burgers. I personally was insulted by their in-direct portrayal of the beef that I raise. The beef I raise is neither unsustainable nor unethical. Fellow Canadian Agvocates Sarah Schultz and Andrew Campbell wrote excellent articles on the danger of this fear marketing. Sarah’s post on her Nurse Loves Farmer blog, Fear Marketing: I’ve Got a Beef with A&W, and Andrew Campbell’s piece for Real Agriculture, I’m Done with Fearing Food and Done with A&W do an excellent job of explaining why this is a huge issue for not only us Canadian beef producers, but for a grain grower and dairy producer as well.

But wait a minute…

I just explained why I am furious with A&W for their fear mongering ways. Why I have not eaten a teen burger in three years. Why I continue to be outraged with every product line that they mislead consumers about. Their eggs are from vegetarian hens (even though chickens are omnivores), their coffee is organic (even though organic in many coffee growing areas means slash and burning of the rainforest). I believe in every fibre of my being that this organization has chosen a path of dishonesty and sensationalism as a marketing strategy, and that is something I can never get behind. So how could the title possible state that I am THANKFUL to A&W?

So here it is..

A&W and their misleading advertising has been a call to action for all Canadian farmers and ranchers.

The growing movement of food myths, smear campaigns and out-right marketing lies was sneaking up on Canadian farmers at such a slow pace that it was easy to ignore it. It was easy to tell ourselves that only the granola crunchies were actually buying the crazy stories that were out there. Only the downtown hipsters were ready to believe that us normal, everyday, hardworking farmers would knowingly grow and raise something other than delicious and SAFE food. A&W’s Better Beef campaign showed us just how wrong we were. This huge eye opening moment is something that I am extremely thankful for. Suddenly all of Canadian Ag took a step back to see how badly we need to tell OUR story.

tell your story pic

The hard truth is that people, everyday people, are talking about where their food comes from. They have questions and we can let organizations like A&W tell them their version of the answers, or we can tell them the TRUTH. The truth is that my Canadian raised beef is GOOD! The truth is that knowing, inside and out, exactly how Canadian beef is raised, I will serve it to my own children daily. That is much more than can be said of the ~~South American~~ beef that A&W is importing for their “better beef”. This very blog was born from that campaign, as I had A LOT to say, and needed more space to say it than regular social media would allow.

At a Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan conference I attended this winter, Sarah Shultz was asked what her extended family thought about how much of their farming operation that she shares online. She explained that the A&W Better Beef campaign was an eye opener for her farmer Father-in-law. He, as a grain farmer, could see where this was heading and did not like it at all. It gave him, and thousands of other farmers, the pause needed to fully get behind those of us willing and able to tell the Canadian Agriculture story. The unvarnished farming truth.

So I still will not eat a teen burger. Their vegetarian eggs have gone untasted by me and my family. But as a bigger person, I can give credit where credit is due. Thank you A&W for making yourself the greater enemy that Canadian Ag needed in order to rally our troops, see the bigger picture, and start standing up for ourselves.

every story is complicated pic

Update: I have been told that A&W does not buy beef from South America at this point. I have not been able to get a response back from them directly to confirm or deny that. I want to be completely truthful in anything I write, so will gladly take back the statement about their beef coming from South America. There website does specifically mention three suppliers from Canada (Spring Creek), USA and Australia. Wherever the source their beef from does not change the issue I have with how they are interacting with consumers. I do not like it.

Also, I am always willing to give credit where credit is due. A&W has chosen to take part in, and be very supportive of, the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. I wish they had chosen to go through with this before claiming their beef is sustainable, but I applaud them in this great endeavor.

A Bale Grazing Throwback

February 24, 2016 / viewfromtheranchporch / 1 Comment

I was looking through farm pictures today as I put together a presentation for Friday’s Celebrating Rural Ranching Women event in Maple Creek. I found these goldies from 2012 when we had a PILE of snow. We bale graze our cattle through the winter months. These bales of hay are left where they dropped from the baler, and only wrapped a couple of times with Sisal twine to hold them together. During the winter months, cattle are rotated through 80 acre paddocks of bales. We LOVE bale grazing – it not only saves a ton of work and labour, but it also leaves valuable soil nutrients (from manure and left over hay) out in the field where it belongs, rather than in the yard.

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You can see how hard the lead cows had to work every time they were moved into a new field. Those brave lead cows would strike a path to the next bale, and the rest of the herd would follow in her footsteps. Most years we leave the calves on the cows through to February, but not that year! The cows had to work hard enough to get their meals, they did not need the added stress of producing milk for a calf as well.

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We also supplemented the cows with grain that year to keep them in good body shape. Just because mother nature throws you a curve-ball, doesn’t mean your animals should go hungry or lose weight.

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This winter has been especially mild, and we have less than a foot of snow. This would be the perfect bale grazing, or even swath grazing, year. Mother nature (again) had different plans for us. Because our spring and early summer were so dry, a large portion of our feed was oats that were silaged. This mean that (again) we weaned early. If you are hauling feed, it is much easier to feed calves in the yard. The cows have spent some time bale grazing, but we have also hauled silage out to them.

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I am glad we didn’t have to haul the feed out in 2012… We had to push a new road through the snow each time we went out to the cows!

Looking back reminds me yet again that just when you think you have things figured out on the farm, just when you think you have the perfect system down pat, Mother Nature, markets or just life will bring you down a notch!

This Morning I Jinxed Myself…. Ranch Wife Style

January 15, 2016 / viewfromtheranchporch / 2 Comments

This morning I woke up in a GREAT mood. I got the kids off to school, managed to remember to send them both with lunch, books, backpacks, and skates, helmets and hockey gloves for school skating. I was looking forward to a day of straightening up the house, tackling the mountain of laundry, and having uninterrupted time to tackle some computer/office needs. Apparently I was looking a little TOO forward to it, because I did that thing us ranch wives should NEVER DO – I not only said it out loud, I proclaimed it.

I am NOT leaving my yard today!

And wouldn’t you just know it, not 30 minutes later, isn’t Jake (our main Shop Man Extraordinaire) at the door with those dreaded words.

“What are you doing today?”

Followed by:

“Parts Run”

The worst part was that I had no one to blame but myself. I had irreversibly jinxed myself. Before I knew it, I went from looking at my shrinking “to-do” list to staring at this:

Followed by this:

Lesson of the day: You are 100% more likely to be given a speeding ticket when pulled over in a brand new Honda Pilot than an old junky craptacular Dodge Mini-Van.

To add injury to insult, once home, we realized half the parts they sent me home with were ones we had ordered 4 months ago. I am sure the parts guy will be shocked to learn that we have no need for swather parts in January.

Real Numbers for Beef’s Environtmental Footprint

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 / viewfromtheranchporch / 2 Comments

Last year on Earth Day (April 22nd), my local paper published an article on how to be more “green”. In it, they suggested going meatless for some of the time because of beef’s poor environmental footprint. I wrote an article to counter this idea, as I see every day what beef’s actual footprint looks like. Read that post here.

While doing some research for that post, I spoke with Tracy Herbert from the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC). She pointed out that while there has been quite a lot of research done in this area, there had not yet been an effort to pull the data from all those studies together to come up with one over-all consensus, but that they were working on it.

I am happy to report that the results from phase one of that study are in, (see it here), and things are looking very positive for the beef industry! Over all they have found that we are producing significantly MORE beef (32% more), while using significantly LESS resources (24% less land and 29% less breeding stock), and creating a significantly SMALLER environmental footprint (15% less greenhouse gasses).

While I only have to look out my front window to see first hand what beef does to (or for) our environment, this study that puts exact numbers on what we do is very exciting. We can only improve if we know where we started, and every farmer I know only wants to improve how they farm. I can’t wait to see where we are in 10, 20 and 50 years from now!

For more info, visit the BCRC’s website, here. Or read Real Agriculture’s article on the study here.

Today’s View From My (Back) Ranch Porch

January 12, 2016 / viewfromtheranchporch / Leave a comment

One of the signs of healthy land that I am most proud about is the population of wildlife that cohabitats with our livestock on the ranch. Waterfowl, birds of prey, mule deer, moose, foxes, white tail deer (ok, maybe too many of those!) not only live on our land, but their populations are flourishing.

While these increasing populations are a great sign of a healthy ecosystem, sometimes it’s a little disconcerting to share your space with the wild!

This morning our visitor seemed content to make himself at home and stay awhile. I was just as happy to see him go…

My 5 New Year’s Resolutions for 2016

December 31, 2015 / viewfromtheranchporch / 3 Comments

Most years if I come up with New Year’s resolutions, they are pointed, direct and specific. For example I have resolved to stop eating fries, never yell at my kids, and be outside for at least an hour every day. The problem with these very specific resolutions, is that they are impossible to keep. Never again yell at my kids? Yeah right, until they are ripping each other’s hair out 10 minutes later. Fail.

This year I decided to use my resolutions as broad areas that I can actually improve my life (and the lives of my family). It comes as no surprise that many of them revolve around the farm. None of them involve actually being a better mother or wife, although if they make me happy, I am sure that will follow through. So enough preamble. Here they are:

Riding has always been my hobby of choice. I dreadfully miss my years of competitive riding. I have been waiting for years (and years!) for the right time to buy myself a good horse. I plan on spending a good chunk of money, and have been very realistic that when I actually purchase said horse, I need to be able to spend enough time riding it to justify the dollars spent. 2016 is the year!

This resolution also means I will spend more time reading (I love books!) and more time with good friends. My kids are finally old enough (8 and 10), that although they keep me busy with their activities, they are so much less needy. I resolve to make time for me!!

One of the greatest things I learned at University, was how to learn! We have always been pretty good here at the ranch to try new things and learn more every year, but there is always room for more. I also want to learn so much more about blogging, photography, editing and creating visuals (memes and infographics). So much to learn, so little time. My resolution is to be curious and learn more about more!

One of my greatest joys of 2015 was the creating of this blog. I have enjoyed every moment of writing here. My only regret is not writing more. When I first started out, my goal was to have one new post for each week. I failed miserably. This year I need to set aside 2 hours each week to write. Sometimes that may mean a post a week. Sometimes that will hopefully mean I have a collection of posts in my back pocket for the weeks that get too crazy to take time to write. I resolve to make this time to write!

We are so incredibly lucky to live in one of the honest to goodness most beautiful places in the world. Rolling hills, sparkling wetlands, miles and miles of vast grasslands filled with cohabiting wildlife and livestock. It is so very easy to forget to look up now and then and take that moment to appreciate what is around us. The picture above was just like any other day. Aaron and I were out feeding the heifers, and it barely even warranted a picture. The hoar frost has been unbelievable this year, and now we hardly even notice it. Can you imagine seeing that kind of beauty so often that it isn’t even noticeable. I resolve to look up more this year!

Aaron and I could not be more proud to be raising young ranchers. While they will have every chance to choose the farm life, or not, we are comfortable knowing that both Noelle and Cole are involved daily on the ranch operations. Their knowledge of our ranch and animal husbandry is better than some of our peers. To be honest, many days they know more about what is going on than I do. It is important to me that we continue to take the time to foster this love within both of them.

For all of the people, young and old, who are not fortunate enough to grow up on a ranch like our kids, it is equally important for me to share our story with them. We don’t just play at ranching – we raise the actual food that is on people’s plate, and they deserve to know how it got there. They should know how much we sacrifice, how hard we work, and how much we care to make that food as safe, healthy and delicious as it is. I resolve to continue to share and foster our passion and love of the land, animals and agriculture!

What Saskatchewan Farmers Need To Learn from Alberta (and Ontario)

December 10, 2015December 10, 2015 / viewfromtheranchporch / Leave a comment

For anyone involved in Canadian agriculture, it’s pretty hard to miss the news of what is going on in Alberta with Bill 6 and the farmer uprising against it. Social and print media alike are on fire with farmer protests. If you are not up with what Bill 6 is all about, read more about it on Real Agriculture here, or how it directly effects Alberta farmers here on a post from Sarah Schultz of Nurse Loves Farmer (she does a much better job at explaining this than I could!)

Last year saw similar farmer strife in Ontario surrounding their government Neonic insecticide ban.
Those of us lucky enough to farm here in Saskatchewan are happily sitting back and rubbing our proverbially full tummies, proclaiming to the world how awesome we have it here. I’ll admit it, I’ve sent my fair share of boastful tweets about how great farming in Saskatchewan is.

But before we get too comfortable sitting back resting on our laurels, take a moment to rewind Alberta back 4 or so years. I am pretty darn sure they were in our spot then; pretty happy sitting back, looking at places like Ontario, with a “It can’t happen here, we have it great!” kinda attitude.

After speaking with a handful of great farmers from both Alberta and Ontario, I have come up with a collection of advice that both they and I feel that the Saskatchewan agriculture industry needs to learn from their mistakes.

1. Engage Our Politicians BEFORE we have a problem. Do you know what kind of constituents that politicians NEVER hear from? Happy ones!! They are so accustomed to only hearing from people with a beef, it must be increadibly wearing. These are the people driving policy that directly effects our business. This is who we need to connect with and forge relationships with long before there is a fire to be put out. Don’t just leave it up to our industry/commodity groups. It is up to each one of us to be the leader in this relationship.

2. Never forget the power of consumer popular opinion. The driving force behind the Neonic ban in Ontario didn’t come from well meaning (but clueless) politicians. An outcry from urban consumers alarmed about the seemingly imminent “Beepocalypse” is what drove such unscientific policy. Ontario farmers have lamented that they did not move quickly enough to bridge the disconnect between viral social media hysteria in consumers, and what the real issues are on farms.

3. Never underestimate the power of banding together. I think every farmer out there can see how difficult it can be to get a consensus (on any given subject) with a large group of other farmers. We can be judgemental of each other and can have a real hard time holding our tongues and opinions in. Of what has been happening in Alberta, I think there is one thing most Alta farmers can agree on. They are incredibly proud of the way they have banded together. Even the Hutterites, who the government offered to exempt from bill 6, have stuck by their fellow farmers and demanded that the government hear the farmers collective voice. Moving forward, whatever complex issues and problems are thrown at the Sask Ag industry this is a lesson we must remember. There is power in numbers and a united voice.

Every election year brings new faces in power, whether there is a change in government or not. As we look to our own provincial election this spring, how comfortable are we with the outcome? How comfortable are we with the relationship we have with Canadian consumers? How skilled are we at supporting our fellow farmers?

We are so very blessed to be lucky enough to be farming in Saskatchewan (and not just for the low land prices!). Are we ready to look outside of our neat, straight borders and see what the future could hold for us? Are we ready?

Massive Batch Meatballs

December 7, 2015December 7, 2015 / viewfromtheranchporch / 2 Comments

The Christmas season is upon us, and that means holiday Potluck parties. Of course I am always expected to bring a beefy dish to share, being a cattle rancher. My absolute favourite crowd pleaser at Potlucks is beefy meatballs. They are so versatile, you can change their entire flavour by switching up the sauce, and they go with everything! Possibly the best part about meatballs is how easy they are to make ahead in big batches to freeze and pull out when needed.

While the sauce possibilities are endless, two of my favourites are Sweet and Sour, and Creamy Mushroom sauce. I will share them in a future post, but for those of you who are often in a desperate rush (like I am tonight), pour a couple cans of cream of mushroom soup over a crockpot full of pre-made meatballs and voila- easy peezy dinner!

This recipe is Child, Rancher and Mom approved, a perfect trifecta!

Massive Batch Meatball Recipe
Ingredients:

8 lbs ground beef. No need for the more expensive lean ground beef – because there is no pork, the added fat in regular ground beef keeps the meatballs juicy and delicious.
1 onion finely diced and sauted in canola oil until translucent
2 cups Panko bread crumbs. If you don’t happen to have Panko in your pantry, never fear, any kind of bread crumb works. If all else fails, finely crushed crackers or tortilla chips will work in a pinch.
6 eggs
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Johnny’s garlic seasoning
1/4 cup Italian seasoning (both seasonings can be switched up according to taste.
1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in large bowl (I use my bread making bowl). If you are squeamish about mixing raw meat with your hands, use medical gloves.

Roll into small meatballs. Make sure they are equal in size so they cook evenly.

Spread meatballs out evenly on broiler pans. If needed, I also use cookie sheets covered in tin foil for easy clean-up. Just make sure it has sides to catch grease.

Bake at 350 degrees F for approx 30 minutes. This will largely depend on the size of meatballs.
Always cook ground beef dishes to a minimum internal temp of 160 Degrees F!!!

In the past, I always fried my meatballs, but once I discovered cooking them in the oven, I have never looked back! No splatter, no standing over a hot stove, and I found the meatballs actually kept a better round shape in the oven.

Once cooled, I freeze the meatballs in large ziplock freezer bags. I never know how large of a crowd I will be cooking for, so I love that I can take out as many (or little) as I need. Just pop them out of the freezer into a casserole dish (or crockpot), cover with the sauce of your choosing, and heat at 350F until hot and bubbly throughout.

I hope you enjoy this stand-by as much as we do!

Cattlemen’s Young Leaders – Angela Kumlin

November 17, 2015November 18, 2015 / viewfromtheranchporch / Leave a comment

As I mentioned in a previous post here, Aaron and I are currently acting as mentors to a young agricultural professional, Angela Kumlin, as part of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program. As part of our journey together, I have asked Angela to write a guest blog post about her experience thus far. Take a moment to read her story below, and welcome her to the vast (and amazing) world of the beef industry!!

Hello there!

My name is Angela Kumlin and I am participating in the 2015/2016 Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Program (hereafter referred to CYL). Through this program I have been matched up with Adrienne and Aaron Ivey as my mentors, so Adrienne asked me to do a guest blog post to tell you all about CYL.

I heard about CYL through some friends who had been involved in the program. They had nothing but good things to say about it, although they did seem to have trouble putting into words what was so awesome about it. “It’s just…awesome. You should do it.” I heard this several times, so in January of 2015 I sent in my application! I hope I can articulate it well enough to justify how awesome this program really is.

The application process was quite simple, although took some hard thinking on my part. “Describe your involvement in the cattle industry” – easy enough, but then throw in some doozies like “In 250 words or less describe your goals in the cattle industry.” 250 words! If you haven’t figured it out already, my thesis prof described me as “quite verbose”, so I had trouble keeping my thoughts concise.

Shortly after applications were sent in, 26 applicants out of about 70 were chosen for the final selections process in March in Saskatoon. When I arrived I knew a few people already, as several of last year’s mentees were there for their CYL graduation. There were lots that I didn’t know though, and we spent the next two days meeting and learning from one another, competing at round table discussions to vie for a spot in the program, and becoming a great group of friends. The round table discussions were challenging but very interesting, and I learned a lot just from listening to the perspectives of the other applicants. We also had a guest speaker panel one evening where we could ask questions of some prominent figures in agriculture, such as Marty Seymour [CEO of Agribition].

One day after returning home from selections, a friend in the program texted and said, “You’re in, congrats! I made it too!” So we all waited eagerly to hear who our mentors would be. When I first called Adrienne to introduce myself, we spent a half hour on the phone learning about each other’s backgrounds. When my husband came home that evening I told him about Adrienne and Aaron’s ranch and their business and lifestyle. His first comment was “That’s crazy – they picked people who are exactly who we want to be in ten years!”

This became even more evident when we went to visit Aaron and Adrienne in September to meet in person and tour their ranch. Not only do they have an operation similar to what we would love to run someday, but they are great people. I don’t say this lightly – they really are! Gracious hosts, great senses of humour, awesome kids, and a real zest for life, agriculture, beef, and trying new things. We were extremely impressed. We had some great discussions around their kitchen table that have had us scratching our heads, crunching numbers, and throwing ideas around since we left.

As a part of the mentorship within CYL, we are also allowed a travel budget to participate in some educational experiences. Since Aaron and Adrienne were the Saskatchewan Outstanding Young Farmer’s last year, they have invited me to go to that conference this year in Edmonton, which I am really looking forward to. Adrienne and I are also hoping to go to Altech’s Rebelation conference in Kentucky next spring.

Some of my goals with my mentorship this year were to learn about risk management within a ranching business, succession planning, social license and talking to the public about agriculture, grazing management, and employee management. Aaron, Adrienne, and I have set goals and steps for me to learn something about each of these topics over the course of the year. I am looking forward to spending more time on each of these topics! I truly appreciate the time they are spending with us to give us a leg up in this industry. It is a big time commitment and they are busy people, so it means even more when they take the time out of their day to call and chat about what’s going on in the beef industry.

Outside of the mentor aspect of CYL, the program offers a lot of other opportunities to CYL participants. There are competitions within the program to go on trips, such as to the Five Nations Beef Alliance which is being held in Mexico this year. There are also forums every few months where we all get together and go through some training (ex. negotiations training and leadership training), hear fantastic guest speakers, network with prominent figures in the beef industry as well as one another and our mentors, and volunteer to give back to our industry. Several of us will be volunteering at booths during Agribition. If you are interested in the program, be sure to stop one of us to say hi and ask about how to get involved! Applications for 2016 will be accepted between Jan 1^st and March 31^st 2016. If you are looking for more information on CYL, you can visit their website at http://www.cattlemensyoungleaders.com/.

Funding for the CYL program is made available through its foundation partners: UFA Co-operative Ltd., the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), Cargill, and MNP. The program also receives support from gold sponsors Farm Credit Canada and New Holland. The CYL Spring Forum in 2015 was sponsored by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture.

Thanks for reading!

The Glory of a Fall Supper in a Ukrainian Town

November 1, 2015December 7, 2015 / viewfromtheranchporch / 16 Comments

There is no better time to live in a small Saskatchewan town of strong Ukrainian culture than Fall Supper season. It is that special time of year when all Babas unite to bring us arguably the most delicious dinner of the year. While there are many high points of living in a small town like Ituna Saskatchewan, fall supper season may just top that list.

Tonight I was fortunate enough to attend the Sacred Heart Parish Ukrainian Catholic annual fall supper. For a mere $15 per adult, or $6 per child we have gorged ourselves on some of the best food Saskatchewan has to offer.

Fall (or Fowl) suppers are a pretty great thing across Western Canada. Usually done as a church or community fundraiser, they are a collection of food prepared by the best cooks in the community. Add in the Ukrainian heritage of Ituna, and then the magic really happens.

The long buffet style line of food is almost daunting at first. A pre-meal game plan is usually in order.

The standard fillers of veggies, buns, and a selection of salads may look delicious, but a seasoned fall supper goer, such as myself, knows that you must hold back at the start of the food procession. You will need that precious plate space for the really delicious dishes to come.

Next is the perogie section. Yes, here in Ituna perogies warrant their own entire section. The perogie pan is huge, and sits alongside dishes of onions and butter, sour cream, and creamy mushroom gravy. Did I mention that these perogies are Baba-made (with love) and hand-pinched? These are an entire meal on their own!

Cabbage rolls are so delicate that they have their own dedicated server person. And of course one standard variety is not enough. Buckwheat cabbage rolls are a special treat.

And then (THEN!) comes the “regular” dishes. Sweet and sour meatballs, roast turkey with all the fixings, freshly boiled carrots and peas so sweet that I suspect came out of Baba #24’s personal garden, and potatoes whipped to creamy heaven.

By the time I hit the end, it is a fantastical balancing act to keep the enormous amount of food intact on my plate. Damming the rivers of both brown and mushroom gravy is a must. At this point I begin to worry that my eyes have seriously exceeded my stomach’s capacity.

And then I spy the dessert table.

When it is all said and done, and we have cleaned our plates (a remarkable feat), we enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a visit with the people sitting on either side of us – people from neighbouring communities that mark the first Sunday in November as their annual trek to Ituna.