June was a busy, challenging month for Nova Scotia Angus breeders who hosted both the Maritime Junior Show and Field Day and the annual meeting of the Canadian Angus Association.
Pictou was the site of the Junior Show where incoming CAA President Kirk Wildman of Sangudo, Alberta judged a record number of entries from all three provinces—29 purebred and one crossbred yearling heifers.
In the Conformation classes he selected a heifer from Ellen Dixon of Bannockburn Valley Farm in Prince Edward Island as champion and an entry from Colby MacQuarrie of Winsloe, PEI as reserve.
Dixon received the Dick Turner Award, a perpetual trophy donated by Dick Turner of Alberta that has been presented annually for the last 25 years to the champion purebred heifer.
MacQuarrie was the senior champion in the showmanship competition. Morgan Ings was reserve. Corey Ford, Mark Oulton, Danika Nelson, Logan Ford, James Worth and Justin Ford were champions and reserves in their respective classes.
During the day the Maritime Junior Angus Association held its annual meeting and Maritime Angus Association Vice-President Wilfred Gilby and Secretary-Treasurer Betty Lou Scott presented the 2010 MAA $500 Scholarship to Morgan Ings of PEI, a second year student at UPEI.
Auctioneer Tony Prinsen, assisted by Buddy Loane, held a very successful semen auction that raised nearly $3000 for the participating juniors. This year an exceptional list of quality semen was available as Loane and Jim Colodey had canvassed Angus leaders from across the country for donations for the auction.
The June 12 Field Day concluded with the presentation of the 2010 Maritime Angus Commercial Breeder Award that was presented to the Armstong family of Kingston, NS.
CANADIAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING
The 104th annual meeting of the Canadian Angus Association (CAA) got underway at the Westin Hotel in Halifax, NS on June 17.
The three-day event included business meetings and three workshops on relevant industry topics. Delegates could attend two of the three presentations: ‘Linking the Silos of the Beef Industry-Angus in the Retail Market’ with Vince Gallant and Jeanne Cruikshank; ‘Genomics and Genetic Defects-What you Need to Know’ with Dr. Jonathan Beever and Kajal Devani, and ‘The Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed Program-One Year Later’ with Frank MacMaster and Michael Latimer. All workshops were well received and many wished they could have attended all of them.
Those not attending meetings had a full day June 17 ‘taking in the sights of Halifax Waterfront’. The ‘Wander the Waterfront’ theme played out with a three-hour cruise aboard the Tall Ship Silva with all the food one could eat. The following day featured a seven-hour guided tour to the Annapolis Valley with visits to wineries, lobster pounds, Grand Pre National historic site and cheese sampling.
Evening events included the public speaking competition for the Canadian Junior Ambassador, and the gala banquet where NS Agriculture Minister John MacDonnel addressed delegates and CAA President John Donaldson and his wife Donna were inducted into the ‘Order of Good Times’.
During the banquet two Angus families were presented with the prestigious ‘50 Year Award’ for raising purebred Angus cattle for 50 consecutive years. Buddy Loane and family of Montague, PEI and the Slezina family of Alberta joined the other 95+ members of the elite group. Honourary President pins were presented for each province; Gary Harron of Ontario accepted his Ontario Award and Hilda Colodey of PEI accepted her Maritime Association Award.
The annual meeting wrapped up on June 19 when Kirk Wildman was named CAA president for 2010-2011 and Gary Harron president of the Canadian Angus Foundation.
