From the Director’s Chair

refreshment sampling and appetizers. We will wrapup Friday at the historic Western Development Museum for a casual evening of food, drinks and visiting right on the museum floor.

Saturday morning will be the Annual General Meetings of the Canadian Angus Association and the Canadian Angus Foundation. Following lunch is our guest speaker Rod

The Saskatchewan Angus Association is pleased to welcome everyone to the Canadian Angus Association Convention and Annual Meeting, June 8-10 in Saskatoon. Our national Convention offers many exciting opportunities for our members. The three days will be filled with information, education, networking and socializing amongst peers, fellow breeders and industry leaders. The Sheraton Cavalier, our host hotel, is located downtown overlooking the picturesque South Saskatchewan River.

The tours start on Thursday, June 8th at The Berry Barn where we will learn all about growing saskatoons, visit the greenhouse and gift shop, followed by lunch at their very successful restaurant. Our next stop is the Black Fox Farm and Distillery, a multiple awardwinning maker of Canadian gin and whiskey, where they combine agriculture and distilling. I promise you will enjoy the ambiance and story. We will then continue over to Crossmount Cider Company, where cider is locally crafted and made right here in the Saskatchewan Prairies. We will visit their orchards and production area - you will be interested in hearing the Angus roots connection at this stop. For those who would rather golf, a round might be more inviting at the Moon Lake Golf and Country Club. The days’ events will conclude with the President’s Reception at the beautiful “Top of the Inn” at the Sheraton Cavalier.

Friday’s activities start with breakfast at the hotel followed by a tour of the world renown Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence at Clavet, SK. We will return to the hotel for lunch and will then head out to enjoy the afternoon at Norheim Ranching. Amongst socializing, there will be cattle displays, equipment demos,

by Michelle Potapinski

Pedersen and then the inspiring Junior Angus Ambassador speeches. The afternoon will wrap up with Canadian Angus staff led workshops followed immediately by cocktails. The banquet, awards and Building the Legacy Sale 11 will round out the evening. I look forward to visiting with everyone over the week!

continued from the Cover change our direction much. We have and continue to focus on issues pertinent to the membership. A lot of the priority areas that surfaced throughout the workshop were areas also focused on after development of the last strategic framework (i.e. Breeder Information Sessions, Mentoring). the April 2023 board meeting where the first draft of the strategic plan was presented to the directors, the promotion committee was tasked with developing a media strategy to ensure members are communicated with in a way that that meets their needs. This is one example where there may be a cost for the board to administer a strategic priority; however, by having the membership highlight this as important, the board will begin to develop a budget consideration for this item.

The first step to developing any strategic plan is to canvas the association’s membership. At times for a board or association, it can be easy to only see what is right in front of you and your membership may see new and upcoming opportunities or threats. As a Saskatchewan Angus Association member, you should have seen a survey that was emailed to all members. This survey took about fifteen minutes and was open for comments for most of January. 86 members and seven stakeholders completed the survey – this was considered a great turn out by the committee, especially for email surveys. A ton of valuable information was generated which helped guide the in-person workshop held in early March and will be used when developing informational tools/sessions.

While the strategic plan is still a work in progress, the Committee and Board will continue to fine tune the strategy. We have a great starting point to provide the strategic direction of the association. There is now a clear mission, vision and values with priority goals. As a board, our committees will use this plan as a guide for development of future work. In a perfect world, everything the Association is involved in should contribute to the strategic priorities or have a connection to advancing these priorities. We will monitor outcomes of our efforts from year to year and ensure progress is being delivered on these areas for the betterment of the membership.

Once the committee has finalized the strategic plan this summer, it will be posted to our website for all members to review. The board is open to feedback and encourages you to review the documents and let us know if you have suggestions or ideas to assist with accomplishing our goals. Thank you to everyone who has participated in the strategic plan review process. It will be interesting to see how the Saskatchewan Angus Association advances by 2028.

A workshop was held in Regina where eighteen Saskatchewan Angus Association members from across the province participated in a facilitated session to determine the strategic priorities, challenges and opportunities facing the association over the next five years. There were members who represented purebred, commercial and junior backgrounds to give a well-rounded picture of issues facing members today.

One positive that resonated throughout the process was that as an association we seem to be on the right path and don’t need to showed up in several areas of the workshop was that, as an Association we should have a significant focus on member education and engagement through social media. The industry and association has experienced a lot of change since that first strategic plan--social media is one area that has really grown since 2015. At

Looking to the future, you can expect to see the Association focusing on more junior engagement --whether this is through enhancing our 4-H program or working with schools to ensure the agriculture story is shared. Member education will continue, with a focus on mentoring, potential succession planning ideas and increasing knowledge in all things cattle. As an association we also have to be careful to not focus only on the purebred side of the industry and recognize the importance of commercial connections. We have a unique ability to work as a team with other industry organizations for the betterment of the beef industry. There was no shortage of ideas throughout this strategic planning journey and once our committees have a chance to digest all of these ideas we will work at implementing them!

by Kim McLean

As I sit to write this message, winter is taking one more swing at many parts of the prairies. Although the moisture is welcome in many areas, there are some that really are having issues with local flooding and roads being washed out. In my part of the world there really wasn't a lot of runoff or many pot holes filled up in the fields even though we had a good snow cover. Hopefully some warm rains will come along and get things washed off and the grass started.

The weather has also created a headache for many producers who calve on grass in April. It's made for some long days and nights of extra work caring for cold wet calves. However, along with the extra moisture and the strength of the cattle markets there is a real feeling of optimism out there for the cattle industry. All things seem to be pointing towards the strongest calf market this fall that any of us have ever experienced. The prices of open commercial heifers, breds and pairs has been pretty strong this spring as well as the price for purebred heifers. The bull sales, for the most part, have exceeded expectations. This may be due in part to the fact that many bulls found their way to town last fall due to the feed shortage in many areas. The strengthening of the markets has had some producers decide to maintain or in some case expand their numbers which directly impacted sale prices. Whatever the reasons, things are looking pretty positive at this point

Junior and 4-H shows are starting to happen so be sure to get out and support our future producers. Many will have market animals they are selling so if you can help them along in any way, they would appreciate the support. Along with these events there are a few other things happening that you might be interested in attending.

The 110th Annual Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association AGM and Convention will be held in Moose Jaw June 4th - 6th. There will be a trade show and some interesting speakers at this event. Contact the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association for more information.

The Canadian Angus Association Annual Convention and AGM will be in Saskatoon June 8th - 10th. There are various events planned as well as the Canadian Angus Foundation ‘Building The Legacy’ Sale on Saturday night. Contact the Canadian Angus Association or Belinda Wagner for more details.

by Bob Toner

The Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence Field Day is June 20th at Clavet. This is an interesting event highlighting the various projects being run by the University of Saskatchewan forage and livestock divisions.

July will see the Manitoba Angus Association Gold Show at Harding July 21st. Contact the Manitoba Angus Association for more details. Also, the CJA Showdown will be held in Swift Current July 20th - 22nd and we are looking forward to seeing Juniors from across the country participating. Contact the Canadian Junior Angus Association or Belinda Wagner for more details.

The Saskatchewan Angus Association Summer Tour will be held August 9th and 10th in East Central Saskatchewan this year with Yorkton being the main hub. Plans are well underway for what has become a "must attend" event. Contact the Saskatchewan Angus Association or Belinda Wagner for more details.

The National Angus Show will be in Brandon this fall at the Brandon Ag Ex in October. Be sure to make plans to be there either as an exhibitor or spectator and take in what will be a great show.

Here's to timely showers, green grass and a bountiful hay crop.

It’s with great pride that I get to introduce myself as your newest Canadian Angus Association (CAA) director. I’m Darren Ippolito and live near Kisbey in the SE part of Saskatchewan. I, along with my partner Kylie and our three children, Kord, Etta and Ray-Lynn, my parents Glenn and Donna and a couple of valuable employees, run Moose Creek Red Angus. We have a registered herd, large commercial cow/calf and yearling operation as well as a small feedlot.

The perspective I’m planning to bring to the national board is a 20,000-foot view of the industry; a high level of accountability and fiscal prudence. We have the unique experience of touching all aspects of the beef chain and I’m looking forward to using that to move the CAA forward.

See ya down the road, Bob

Toner

But my first point of business will be to flesh out the Bob Toner Memorial Performance Audit. It will be a program worthy of such an iconic name. (Inside joke! Contact Bob or Darren for details…)

Thanks for allowing me the great privilege to represent our Angus family on the National Board.

Have a great spring Darren Ippolito moose.creek@sasktel.net 306.577.8970