Canadian Cattle Young Leaders Travel to Calgary Area for Annual Spring Forum

CYL
3 hours ago
3 min read

Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) mentees from across Canada gathered June 3–6 for the annual Spring Forum. The three-day event was held in Calgary, AB, and the surrounding area. The 16 young leaders participated in a range of industry tours and training designed to enhance their Canadian beef industry knowledge and connections, specifically in the Alberta region.

The CYLs kicked off the first evening with a fun round of bowling and the opportunity to connect and share some of their experiences in the program so far. Thursday morning, they rolled out of Calgary bright and early to tour the High River Cargill Processing Plant. From there, the CYLs headed to the family-run cattle feeding operation, Rimrock Cattle Company, where CYLs were toured and given insight on how they have remained successful in more than 40 years in the feedlot industry. Later Thursday, the group was fortunate to tour Plateau Cattle Company. It was exciting to learn about Laura and Johns' operation as they manage their cattle with a deeply rooted connection to community and the land while learning more about their use of the Halter virtual fencing collars.

In the evening, the CYLs were hosted by Tracy Hanson and Earl Munro of Long Acre Ranch for the 2026 Spring Forum Reception. The reception is an opportunity to celebrate the generous support for the CYL program and event sponsors while networking and building long-lasting connections with sponsors and industry representatives. To round out the evening, the young leaders were fortunate to hear from Brett Gardiner, the most awarded western sports announcer in Canadian history and a mental health and wellness advocate who founded the Chase the Good initiative.

The second day kicked off with industry experts sharing their insights on timely industry topics. The young leaders heard from Spenser Jensen from Foundation Partner MNP about the vitality of Business Risk Management today more than ever. CCA's General Manager Ryder Lee gave valuable insight on CCA structure and key policy priorities. The group then headed out to Canada Beef and The Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence to hear from their team on the marketing aspect of beef, including meat cutting and recipe development. It is valuable to see the importance of every single step in the beef value chain. In the next session, the young leaders heard from Cameron Olson of Elanco, another Foundation Partner of the CYL program, sharing his expertise on assessing the cattle herd using key performance metrics. For the final session of the day, the group of young leaders heard from Glenn Dawes of AdFarm, enlightening the CYLs on marketing and brand fundamentals.

On the final day of Spring Forum, the group wrapped up with a tour of Westway Farms in Didsbury, Alberta. Spring is busy for all farmers and ranchers, so the CYLs greatly appreciate the time to learn about the management style of the Hadway family’s mixed farm and seedstock operation.

Spring Forum 2026 came to a close with one final group photo. The group will gather again at their CYL graduation ceremony at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on August 18, 2026.

Funding for the Canadian CYL Program is made available through generous Platinum Partners McDonald’s Canada and Cargill and Foundation Partners Elanco and MNP. The program also receives support from Gold Sponsors Farm Credit Canada and RBC. Thank you to our program sponsors who helped coordinate various tours and speaker sessions and made this year’s event a success.