Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) mentees from across Canada gathered for the annual Spring Forum. This year’s three-day event was held from June 6-8, 2024 in Guelph, ON and the surrounding area. The opportunity to travel to Ontario offered the 16 program participants insight into beef production in eastern Canada. Young leaders participated in a range of industry tours and training designed to enhance their knowledge and connections in the Canadian beef industry.
One of the features of the Spring Forum is the speaker sessions throughout the three days, where industry experts shared their insights on various topics. Crystal MacKay from Utensil.ca, a Spring Forum Prime Sponsor, provided valuable guidance on building your personal and professional brands in agriculture, as well as public speaking training. The Canadian Cattle Association's General Manager, Ryder Lee, provided young leaders an inside look on policy development and leadership in the beef industry. Foundation Partner MNP’s Amanda Hammell also shared her knowledge of financial literacy and business planning.
This year’s Spring Forum featured a unique opportunity – Young leaders had the opportunity to tour the McDonald’s Canada headquarters in Toronto with networking sessions with leaders across sustainability, communications, supply chain, government affairs and had a unique opportunity to meet and interact with their CEO leadership team. A special thanks to McDonald’s Canada CEO, Michele Boudria, and team for hosting!
To provide a comprehensive understanding of beef production, the Spring Forum included tours to various locations along the beef production chain. Tours through the University of Guelph’s Meat Science Laboratory and Elora Research Station gave CYLs the opportunity to gain insight into ongoing research. Foundation Partner Cargill’s Anthony Wu, spoke about Cargill’s leadership in the Canadian Beef industry, and CYL Grads Kristine Tapley and Holly McGill shared how the program helped lead them to their exciting roles with Cargill.
With a new spin to this year’s Spring Forum, young leaders got a double dose of networking as they teamed up with the Ontario Beef Youth Alliance for a networking reception and day of tours. Participants had the opportunity to network with over 30 young beef producers from Ontario and forge valuable connections.
The mentees experienced Ontario agriculture firsthand when they toured Barry Ostendorff’s cow-calf operation and CYL mentor Ken Schaus’ Walkerton feedyard. Foundation Partner, New Holland, was on site to provide a forage equipment demonstration and offer CYLs the chance to explore cutting edge precision-ag technology. Foundation Partner, Elanco, also shared about the pillars of sustainability in the Canadian beef industry and facilitated an inspiring chat with CYL mentor, Ken Schaus on adopting technology, economic efficiencies, managing your team and supporting the next generation.
Another annual highlight of the Spring Forum is the Sponsor Reception, a special event celebrating the generous support of our program and event sponsors, and the achievements of our young leaders in the beef industry. The event took place on Friday, June 7, providing an excellent opportunity for program participants to build long-lasting connections with sponsors and industry representatives.
Funding for the Canadian CYL Program is made available through 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. We are also grateful to have Utensil.ca as our Spring Forum Prime Sponsor. New this year, the 2024 CYL Spring Forum was very excited and honoured to be a grant recipient of 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.
Thank you Program Partners and Event Sponsors!
Amanda Hammell from MNP with the group of CYLs after her presentation on Financial Literacy and Business Planning.
Bonding on the bus!
An informative presentation from Cargill’s Anthony Wu.
CYLs learning to build their brand with Crystal MacKay from Utensil.ca.
Cameron Olson of Elanco explaining the importance of all pillars of sustainability in the industry.
An incredible visit with our Platinum Partner McDonald’s Canada at their Toronto headquarters.
New Holland’s Claude Lesperance demonstrating some of the latest technology in forage production.
The lovely ladies of Ostendorff and our CYLs!
Patrick Sullivan (left) with his mentor Ken Schaus (right) touring Ken’s Walkerton feedlot.
Past CYL Katie Wood touring us around the University of Guelp’s Elora Research Center.
An inside look at the Schaus Feedyard.
The CYLs and Ontario Beef Youth Alliance at our last stop, Ken Schaus’ Walkerton Feedyard.
We were very fortunate to have a Canadian Cattle Association Past President, Stan Eby (far right) stop in for a visit with CYLs joined by CYL mentor Ken Schaus (second from right).
Past CYLs Stacey Domolewski, Holly McGill, Kristine Tapley, and Katie Wood (left-right) shared with the current CYLs their experiences and how it got them to their industry roles today.