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

Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) mentees from across Canada gathered May 28–30 for the annual Spring Forum. For the first time, the three-day event was held in Kamloops, BC and the surrounding area. The 15 young leaders participated in a range of industry tours and training designed to enhance their Canadian beef industry knowledge and connections, specifically in the British Columbia region.

The first day kicked off with industry experts sharing their insights on timely industry topics. The young leaders heard from Blake Lechkobit and Tammy Cox from Foundation Partner MNP about financial literacy and business planning. From our Platinum partner Cargill, Kristine Tapley spoke about sustainability in the beef industry and Cargill’s connection with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB).  To round out these sessions, the CYLs also had the opportunity to voice their perspective on industry questions brought forward by Platinum Partner McDonald’s Canada.  After the speaker sessions, the CYLs toured the local Save-On-Foods grocery store and gained insight into how the retail end of the supply chain functions, learning more about the retailer’s meat department and consumer preferences.

Thursday morning, the CYLs were up bright and early to tour Westwold View Farms, a Verified Beef Production Plus feedlot. Andrea van Iterson, who manages the operation, is a past CYL and enjoyed connecting with this year's group of young leaders. Dr. Lacey Fowler from Elanco gave a presentation on growth implants in beef production, followed by a demonstration of the Component with Tylan implant. CYLs had the opportunity to test their skills and implant a few live animals.

Andrea van Iterson, a past CYL, showed the current CYL William Gamache how to implant the Elanco Component with Tylan implant.

 After lunch at the Weldwold Community Hall, the CYLs headed out for a tour of Indian Gardens Ranch hosted by David and Bonnie Haywood-Farmer. David and BC Cattlemen's Association (BCCA) General Manager Kevin Boone provided great insight into the operation’s range and ag-forestry management. David and Bonnie hosted the group for the annual CYL Sponsor Reception, complete with a steak dinner. 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, Kevin spoke about some of the impacts and actions taking place through BCCA.

David Haywood-Farmer and Kevin Boone from BCCA giving a tour of Indian Gardens Ranch. During this part of the tour, the two discussed “mosaic” logging and how agriculture and forest management should work together.

The Sponsors Reception was hosted at Indian Gardens Ranch and was attended by many sponsors, past and current CYLs as well as members from the BCCA.

 On the last day of Spring Forum, the CYLs had a unique opportunity to tour Douglas Lake Ranch, the largest privately held cattle ranch in Canada. The ranch's general manager, Phil, explained the operation’s management throughout the tour.

The CYLs at the historic Douglas Lake Ranch

 Lunch was at FarmStrong Cider Company followed by a tour at Hornby Equipment and demonstrations of New Holland forage equipment. David Zeinstra from the North American branch of New Holland highlighted the features of a New Holland T6.160 tractor with a New Holland 450 Roll-belt round baler to highlight some of the cutting-edge precision-ag technology available.

The CYLs enjoyed learning more about the New Holland equipment with David Zeinstra.

Spring Forum 2025 came to a close with one final group photo. The group will gather again at their CYL graduation ceremony at the CCA semi-annual meeting in Lévis, Quebec, on September 10, 2025.

Funding for the Canadian CYL Program is made available through generous Platinum Partner McDonald’s Canada and Foundation Partners Cargill, Elanco, MNP, and New Holland. The program also receives support from Gold Sponsors Farm Credit Canada, RBC Future Launch, and Alltech. The Canadian Cattle Young Leaders program is extremely grateful for a grant from the WestGen Endowment Fund. Thank you to our program sponsors who helped coordinate various tours and speaker sessions and made this year’s event a success.