1.780.955.1995
Wildrose Results
May 03, 2017
The WILDROSE BISON CONVENTION
and SHOW & SALE was a Huge SUCCESS !
Thank you to all that Participated.
180 Attendees took part in the 2017 Wildrose Bison Convention held March 17th in Ponoka - it was such a packed house, the BPA has booked a larger facility for 2018 so that Everyone can come next year!
Keynote Speaker - Roland Kroos of Crossroads Ranch Consulting, Bozeman, MT presented on Sustainable Bison Ranching until lunchtime - but everyone agreed they could have listened to him for several days. Roland was an amazing wealth of information, and used interactive technology for the crowd to participate in his presentation with their IPhones.
Lunch was 'Irish Bison Stew' catered by Chef Reiley with Cilantro and Chive - simply delicious !
Terry Kremeniuk, Executive Director of the CBA, gave an update of recent activities - AND a presentation on the upcoming International Bison Conference in Big Sky, MT - July 4 to 7.
Murray Feist, from the SK Ministry of AG, was up next with 'Bison Mineral Needs' and Alternative Feeding ideas - valuable information to both experienced and new producers.
Data from the 2016 Benchmarking Project was summarized with the highlights presented by four Students from the UofA, who did a great job with this huge task. Bruce Gordon, Team Member with the Benchmarking Project, spoke on the value of the data being collected, and the importance of participation.
Jill Dennis with AB AG & Forestry was up next with a slide show featuing different Bison Handling Systems that were developed, or updated, with funds made available from Growing Forward. She also highlighted the current Funding programs that may be of interest to Bison Producers, and encouraged everyone interested to contact her for assistance.
Closing off the day's presentations was a Producer Panel :
- Neil Hochstein of Alberta Bison Ranch on the value of marketing bison meat to hotels, restaurants and Farmers Markets
- Yvonne Mills of YR Bison Ranch on their progression into Farm-Gate Marketing and direst sales,
- and Steven Lunty with Jackie Fisher from Canadian Rangeland Bison on features and new products that Canadian Rangeland is offering.
Cilantro & Chive was up again catering an amazing Bison Banquet with all the trimmings! The main comments were along the lines of "it was the best food ever at a Convention". Kudos to Chef Reiley.
Award Presentations
Judges - Trevor Gompf and Nolan Miller- had spent the day with the 62 Wildrose Bison that were entered in the Show & Sale. The following features the winners in each Class with photos for the Gold Trophy winners, Reserve & Grand Champions :
BREEDING BULLS born in 2014 (Sponsored by Irish Creek Bison - on left)
- Bronze and Silver to Elk Valley Ranches, Frank & Neil McAllister
- GOLD to Big Country Bison, Derek Shankowsky, Pelly, SK (on right)
BREEDING BULLS born in 2015 (Sponsored by Sun Creek Ranches - on left)
- Bronze to Irish Creek Bison, Justin Dorey, Vermilion, AB
- Silver to Big Country Bison, Derek Shankowsky, Pelly, SK
- GOLD to Irish Creek Bison, Justin Dorey, Vermilion, AB (on right)
OPEN HEIFERS born in 2015 (Sponsored by Elk Valley Ranches - on right)
- Bronze and Silver to Buck Lake Bison, Harvey & Doreen Foss, AB
- GOLD to Black Stone Bison, Blair Majeau, Gunn, AB (on left)
BRED HEIFERS born in 2014 (Sponsored by KLB Bison-Marvin Moore, Carmen Ramstead presenting (on right)
- Bronze to Rustic Hills Bison, Blair Welter, Plunkett, SK
- Silver to Taylor Bison, Bev Taylor, Two Hills, AB
- GOLD to Rustic Hills Bison, Blair Welter, Plunkett, SK (on left)
BULL CALVES Born in 2016 (Sponsored by Buck Lake Bison Ranch - on right)
- Bronze to HGB Bison, George Briggs, Olds, AB
- Silver to Taylor Bison, Bev Taylor, Two Hills, AB
- GOLD to HGB Bison, George Briggs, Olds, AB (on left)
HEIFER CALVES Born in 2016 (Sponsored by HGB Bison - on the right this time)
- Bronze and Silver to Taylor Bison, Bev Taylor, Two Hills, AB
- GOLD to Buck Lake Bison, Harvey & Doreen Foss, AB (on left)
780.955.1995
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