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Canadian Bison Association Annual Convention

The Canadian Bison Association Conference was held in Regina from November 17-20. Saturday started off with the CBA Board of Directors meeting. This was a chance for our elected representatives to get together in person to work on bison issues and ideas that affect all of us.

That evening there was a social arranged for the meeting attendees and for arriving conference attendees, which is when I arrived. It was a great opportunity to meet new faces in the bison industry from across Canada.

Sunday morning was the first official day of the Conference. It began with opening remarks from Mark Silzer, CBA President and Terry Kremeniuk, CBA Executive Director.

Right after that we jumped into an impressive presentation by Paul Martin (not the ex-Prime Minister) who talked about 'Thinking Big'. Paul Martin is a business consultant out of Regina. He had some excellent ideas about ways to increase returns, and improve profitability.

Mark Kossler from Ted Turner's operation in the States was the next speaker. He also made us think of new ways to look at our industry, specifically around production practices. One of the key messages was that every operation was unique - and that your bison operation should fit your own situation. And that with bison, the expected outcome is not always what really happens as they are a very unique animal.

After a delicious lunch we heard from Dr. Murray Woodbury with the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Woodbury spoke on bison parasite control.

Then Brent Warner gave his enlightening presentation on Farm Direct Marketing & Agri-Tourism. This was a similar presentation to what Brent presented in Camrose at our BPA regional meeting. I was very impressed with Brent's ideas. (You can get more details in the Regional Meeting speakers' summary, along with information on our website.)

The afternoon wound up with Paul Hammerton from Meyers Norris Penny. Paul spoke about managing the bison business; giving a very informative talk on management, bookkeeping and the importance of good record keeping.

Then it was off to some fun. The annual Bison Taste-Test Contest was on that night and what a delight for the palate. All the entries were truly delicious, making it a very hard call to know which to vote for. It was also a good time to network and socialize. I was able to meet new friends and re-acquaint with some old ones from my home province of Saskatchewan.

Also that night was the Fun Auction where a large number of donated items were up for auction. The Kramer boys were there as the excellent bison supporters they are to help out with their auctioneering prowess and managed to raise somewhere north of ten thousand dollars to help out the CBA's operations.

Monday started out with the Canadian Bison Industry update. Terry reviewed the accomplishments of the CBA over the past year, and also some important items of what to expect in the coming months.

Then we received an update from Rusty Seedig from our counterpart south of the border - the National Bison Association. The NBA is quite active with policy and lobbying, but unfortunately does not have the funding to do as much marketing as our Canadian Association is able to do.

We finished up the morning with the Canadian Bison Association Annual General Meeting. Then we were off to Agribition, one of western Canada's largest farm shows. It was great to see all the exhibits, including the bison that were on display for the annual Canadian Show and Sale. Another highlight was the Saskatchewan Bison Association's food booth on the grounds. It was one of the largest food booths there, in a high traffic area. They were doing a great job serving bison to the happy and hungry crowd.

That night we were back at the hotel convention centre for the Banquet and Awards Ceremonies - an event where bison ranchers get dressed up and look good with the best of them. Again the meal was truly amazing - it's great to taste just how good bison can be.

Tuesday wound up the CBA convention with the Canadian National Bison Sale at Stockman's arena on the Agribition grounds. Prices were up this year, with animals being purchased and transported down to the States - another highlight not that the US border has officially re-opened.

All in all, the CBA convention - my first - was an excellent event. World Class in my estimation!

Local Meats For the Cities - Workshops

Local food is becoming more popular and more in demand. But what does "local" really mean? Local food should be near, but how close is near? And is it only about distance or are there other ideas involved?

Urban and rural consumers have different ideas about local. Rural consumers consider local to be 50 km or less from home. But Urban consumers think differently. People talk about the city “food shed”, or the 100-Mile-Diet. Often a trip that can easily be done in a day is considered local. The larger the city, the greater the distance that is considered local. In Alberta, local will be within 150-200 km from our major cities.

Another big difference between Rural and Urban Consumers is that urban consumers will often pay more for the same product. For example fresh farm eggs might sell for $2/dozen in a farm community, but the same eggs sold in the cities could get double this.

“Local” seems to be replacing “organic” as the description of foods that urban consumers value. “Local foods” give the perception of “food less traveled”, less energy used, safer, environmentally sensitive and of smaller farmers taking good care of their animals. “Local” also has the image of being healthier, fresh, unprocessed, home-made and more socially just.

There is a growing trend of people who believe in buying local and this creates some real opportunities. This is especially the case for local meats. The problem is linking the urban consumer to the local livestock farmers. This requires building long-term relationships built on mutual trust. There are many examples of how this is already taking place. Many livestock producers sell their meat through city Farmers' Markets and have built up their customer base over the years. Some producers have started on-farm meat shops with great success. But the opportunities would be much greater if there was more cooperation between different livestock farmers and urban consumers that truly want to buy local.

The opportunity is there, but the infrastructure to deliver local meats to the cities is lacking. To take full advantage of the opportunity, livestock producers need to get a better handle on what they are dealing with. For example, producers need to know how the livestock need to be raised, how meat needs to be processed, what the regulations are, how do you make a meat offer to urban consumers. Then there is the whole area of business links and how does every one make a profit and stay happy.

To learn more about “Local Meats for the Cities” attend one of 5 all-day workshops being offered throughout the province. These workshops are sponsored by the Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association and will be held at the following locations:

Westlock - Jan 15
Saint Paul - Jan 17
Claresholm - Jan 22
Big Valley - Jan 27
Rycroft - Jan 31

For more information call Bert Dening at 780-674-8247 or Slav Heller at 780-645-6246.

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