STEINBACH, MAN. THE CARILLON n C7
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024
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Students shown various roles in agriculture Continued from page 6C
horses, or with dogs and cats. Most people have pets in their homes. In rural areas, there are some outside and some inside.” Veterinarians also work outside the animal practise by making recom- mendations to the feed industry to create better nutrition for livestock, Bazinet said. “Sometimes I think animals get bet- ter nutrition than we do.” Enthusiastic about the AITC pro- gram, Bazinet says it exposes young people to agriculture, and if one of these students thinks about becoming a veterinarian, he will be happy. At another station in the dairy re- search building, Bill Ryaniczuk, Man- itoba Agriculture Industry Develop- ment specialist and rural leadership specialist Leanne Tibbatts use dozens of business cards, and a cattle “fit bit” collar to demonstrate the connection countless careers have with agricul- ture. Students are asked to pick five cards they think are part of developing the “fit bit”. It turns out that in this case there are no wrong answers, for every one of the cards on the table can be connect- ed in some way to agriculture. Ryaniczuk suggests that trying to come up with a profession that does not have any agricultural connection would be difficult. It takes countless different people just to come up with this one product, he said. The farmer who uses the fit bit is the most obvious, but along the way, the development of this modern technology includes manufacturers of the equipment, livestock consultants, software developers, accountants and attorneys. Ryaniczuk and other volunteers at the Manitoba Ag station explained how each card students picked played a role in agriculture. And as Agriculture in the Classroom plays a pivotal role in making sure that students have the opportunity to learn about opportunities for a future in agriculture, government and the agriculture industry alike are stepping forward with funding to make their task that much easier. Recently, through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the governments of Canada and Man- itoba provided $400,000 to Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba.to be used for the Amazing Agriculture Adven- ture Program. At the same time, Agriculture in the Classroom-Manitoba announced a three-year funding partnership with Manitoba Beef Producers amounting to $105,000. Katharine Cherewyk, Executive Di- rector of AITC-M, says her organiza- tion is incredibly grateful for the un- wavering support of the province, and the many sectors of the agriculture industry. “Their commitment is a testament to the vital role agricultural educa- tion plays in shaping informed and engaged citizens. Together, we are paving the way for students to gain a comprehensive understanding of the agriculture sector, including the beef industry.”
She told students she had grown up on a cattle operation and had early as- pirations of becoming a veterinarian. She changed her mind while study- ing Animal Science at the University of Manitoba and spending summers working at MBFI, 20 minutes north of Brandon. Manitoba Beef & Forage Ini- tiatives is a research and demonstra- tion farm dedicated to working with farmers to support the advancement of the beef cattle and forage indus- tries. When a position in extension work at Beef and Forages Initiatives be- came available, Pederson decided this would give her the best of both worlds, and has been there ever since. Her po- sition became full time in January. Joining Pederson at the beef station was Mark Good, a beef farmer from Alonsa, and a member of the board of Manitoba Beef Producers. He told students he had become a beef producer as a teenager, when his father presented him with his own cow as payment for the chores he did on their beef operation. The fami- ly, which operates a 300-head cow- calf operation, moved to Manitoba in 2001, because “land was cheaper here.” An interested group of students from St Mary’s Academy peppered both Pederson and Good with ques- tions ranging from the average lifes- pan of a cow, which is nine years, to, “Does a cow go inside during the win- ter?” Good assured the students that beef cows are outside year round. Five months are spent outside on grass pasture and then their food is supple- mented once cold weather sets in. “The beef cow has a fur coat and only needs shelter from the wind. They only come into the corral twice a year, once to be vaccinated, and again at calving time.” The students were also interested in the slaughter process and were told the animals were killed as humanely as possible, by firing a bolt into the brain. Good explained that the cow and calf in the display were brought to Amazing Agriculture Adventure for their beef station because all the cat- tle at Glenlea are dairy cows. After their visit to AAA, the beef cow-calf pair would be going back to Miami, he said. Over at the dairy barn, retired vet- erinarian Doug Bazinet explains the function of a cow’s collar in tracking the movements of the animal, through automated feeding and milking by ro- bots up to three times a day. He tells an astonished group of high school students that a cow produces an average of 24 litres of milk every single day. Bazinet, who has been a veteri- narian for over four decades, says he volunteers for the Agriculture in the Classroom event because he enjoys talking to young students and is hope- ful some will choose to follow careers as veterinarians. Bazinet tells students there are many great career opportunities as a vet. “You can work with cows, pigs, and
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Leanne Sprung, Rural Leadership Specialist at Manitoba Agriculture, displays a “fit-bit” collar and an array of cards depicting the countless careers connected to the development and use of the device which tracks the movement of a cow.
AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM Retired veterinarian Doug Bazinet tells a group of high school students the cows on the other side of the glass each produces up to six jugs of milk every day.
FLASHBACK
February 24, 1993
Bovine beauties featured on newest collector cards
be rolling off the presses at Derksen Printers in Steinbach in time for June release nation- ally. After that, a couple of series every few months will give collectors the opportunity to build a serious collection of the cream of the crop of the world’s finest dairy animals. An enthusiastic Fuchs said he came up with the Cattle-Lyne idea while browsing through back issues of Canadian Holstein magazine. Looking at the photos, he was struck by the fact dairy producers were probably paying hundreds of dollars for eight-by-ten photos of their cows, which seldom got farther than the barn office wall. Prominent breeders may tour a couple of hundred people through their facilities in a year, he said, but they had the pictures taken anyway. A collector card could provide an inex- pensive advertising tool to be distributed through feed companies, implement dealers and parts garages, Fuchs thought. Add the competitive nature of a 4-H club fund-rais- ing project and the potential market keeps expanding. Sold in sets of eight, the cards will compare in price to a lot of sports cards being collect- ed now, Fuchs said. A quick browse through a few card shops showed that a five-card set selling between $1.69 and $5 was common. Cattle-Lyne cards should be available at un- der $2 for a set of eight.
by WES KEATING C ollecting celebrity sports cards has spanned generations and amassed more than a few fortunes for owners who had long-forgotten the cardboard duc- ats they hoarded as youngsters. The fad of collecting cards has by no means been restricted to sports, but enjoys consid- erable popularity by comic book and auto- mobile enthusiasts, movie buffs and country music fans as well. All in all, card collecting is serious business. So why is it when talk turns to a new se- ries of dairy cards, the temptation is to ask whether the set will include Moo-reese Rich- ard, Tee-Moo Selanne, Randy Cow-lyle or Mario La-Moo? Cattle-Lyne is the brainchild of Friedens- feld-area milk producer Wayne Fuchs, who expects the cards to be a hit with both the dairy farmers of the future and their class- mates at school. He sees the cards as a novel way to educate the general public about the dairy industry and provide dairymen another opportunity to show the best of the breed. To date, breeders and milk producers alike are pretty much limited to people who tour their farm or catch a glimpse at dairy shows, Fuchs said. The first set of Cattle-Lyne cards should
CARILLON ARCHIVES The idea of bovine trading cards has sparked national interest and a CBC television camera was on hand to film the first run of Cattle Lyne cards coming off the press at Derksen Printers.
At present, card options include half a doz- en categories. A show series, for instance, in- cludes All-Canadian, All-American and 4-H animals; a Top Farms and Breeders series will include great names like Hanoverhill, Ray- brook, Hansons, Benner and Continental; Past Greats, Candids and Red and Whites will add to the variety and to the excitement of collecting. It will not be too long before someone of- fers to trade their Mona Lisa for another work of art. Experienced collectors will realize im- mediately the reference is to Hanson Prestar Monalisa Ex and it is a collector card of an- other bovine beauty this trader is after.
Fuchs passed the idea on to Derksen Print- ers president Rick Derksen over coffee earlier this year, and the first samples of the dairy trading cards were presented to Eastern Manitoba Holstein Club members at a Feb- ruary seminar. Fuchs said the idea has proved to be far from being a “hard sell.” While mass produc- tion is still more than three months away, over 100 of the top dairy cattle in Canada are lined up to be included. Cattle-Lyne invites producers from across Canada and the United States to send in a color photo (preferably taken professionally by a livestock photographer) and official re- cords of both show and production.
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