CALGARY, AB - For three days, producers, industry, government representatives and Alberta Beef Producer (ABP) delegates tackled big issues impacting the province’s cattle industry. The Annual General Meeting was held in Calgary Dec. 1 to 3 and included speakers, resolution debates and elections.
“The ABP delegates participated in active and thoughtful debates on the resolutions from the fall meetings and the Board of Directors related to the Plan Review. The resolutions that were carried will provide clear direction to ABP as we begin the process of working with Marketing Council on changes to our regulations and by-laws,” said Rich Smith, ABP Executive Director.
The delegates heard informative presentations on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, an in-depth look at social media from FarmOn and a look at the new Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence from Canada Beef Inc. Industry updates were given from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), the Beef Cattle Research Council and Canfax.
The first evening speaker was Stuart Somerville, one of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders in the CCA development program that provides training and mentorship to young cattle producers. The Environmental Stewardship Award was presented the following night at the banquet to Bar S Ranch and the Chattaway family of Nanton, AB.
The 2015 Executive was elected. Greg Bowie (Ponoka) was re-elected Chair, Bob Lowe (Nanton) was re-elected Vice Chair, and Roland Cailliau (Valleyview) joins the executive as Finance Chair.
ABP welcomes the newly-elected 2015 Board of Directors: Rick Friesen (Vauxhall), Cecilie Fleming (Granum), Brian Edge (Cochrane), Judy Fenton (Irma), Rob Somerville (Endiang), Tim Sekura (Rocky Rapids), Colin Campbell (Bon Accord), Lyndon Mansell (Innisfree), Norm Hennigar (Grande Prairie), Roland Cailliau (Valleyview), John Buckley (Cochrane), Howard Bekkering (Vauxhall), Larry Delver (Calgary) and Tim Smith (Coronation).
“This will be an exciting year for the beef industry, a pivotal year for ABP and we are happy to have strong leadership at this time,” said Smith.